#there were so many new games and features announced and while not all of them were stellar there were still many that looked incredibly good

[hydrangeapartridge]

Manfred's first magic duel (EmmRook short fic)

Summary: Manfred is challenged to a duel by another apprentice.How will it go?

(Spoilers for the end of the game)

Part of my collection of post-game dometic EmmRook stories. Cross-posted on AO3 or found on my blog

“You’ll what ??” Emmrich almost spat his tea and Rook’s eyes grew as wide as saucers when Manfred made his announcement.

“Duel” The skeleton simply repeated, in the same way he would inform them he learned a new levitation spell.

In all fairness, duelling was a rather common practice in the Necropolis; friendly combats that helped watchers keep in shape and ready to fight undead or other enemies. Aside from being knowledgeable, Nevarra’s necromancers were also experts in combat, as Emmrich proved in his days with the Veilguard.

“No absolutely not. It’s too dangerous” Emmrich’s tone was final, yet Manfred protested, made bolder than he was only a few years ago from his growing independence and his schooling at the Necropolis.

“But you do it” He pointed out.

Rook felt like she was watching a teenager arguing with his father. It would be sweet if it wasn’t escalating. And if she didn’t end up dragged into the argument.

“Rook?” Manfred turned to her, almost begging

She turned to Emmrich and he crossed his arms over his chest, unable to hide his upset state, but gave a small sign of his head for her to give her opinion.

“It could be dangerous” She started and Emmerich nodded approvingly. She didn’t dare look his way as she continued. “But less advanced trainees duel so... why not? It’s not worse than hunting demons down the chambers of the Necropolis?”

Emmrich’s jaw almost comically dropped. “Assignements are a totally different matter” He replied, looking at Rook like she just gravely betrayed him.

She frowned. Her husband could have a flair for the dramatic when he was upset. And now he was arguing with her instead of their magical skeleton son. She did not like where this was going.

“Emmrich. Deep breaths” She gently suggested, like she often did when she found him overreacting.

He sighed but did as he was told, while Manfred kept looking between the two of them, oddly silent. “ Right. We’ll discuss this again tomorrow after sleeping on it. Now go read in your room” He instructed, and Manfred complied, waving them goodnight before he climed the stairs.

When Emmrich was sure that the spirit wouldn’t hear them, he sat closer to Rook on the sofa.

“Darling, when teaching Manfred discipline, we shouldn’t openly disagree in front of him” He said, though with a warmer tone than expected, taking Rook’s hand in his. He caressed her pulse point with his thumb in a soothing gesture alike to an apology for his earlier irritation.

“Sorry, but honestly you were being a bit unfair” Rook replied, placing a tender hand on his thigh. “I understand where you’re coming from but Manfred’s right, you did duel and still do. Every Necromancer does. He must already feel different from the other students so we shouldn’t aggravate him. Plus, he’s a spirit of curiosity, he’s bound to want to try new things”

Emmrich listened intently as Rook exposed her point. “Also, too many restrictions could push him to disobey you or to hide things from you. Better to support him and keep a close eye on how things go.”

Emmrich sighed. He knew that she was right. Rook had always been a voice of reason; this was part of what made her a great leader for the Veilguardn and a quality he loved deeply.

He ran a hand over his tired features.

“I worry too much don’t I?” He chuckled and Rook smiled.

“It means you care. It’s adorable”

“Davrin often said I should give Manfred more independence. He was right, and so are you”

Rook’s hand pressed a little more against his thigh. “ So �� you’re not upset with me for openly disagreeing with you? ” She still felt illegitimate sometimes when it came to Manfred’s upbringing, even after so long.

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Of course not darling, I never really was. My ego was just a little bruised when Manfred turned to you for permission like he could bypass me”

“Every child does that” Rook pointed out with a small private laugh before she placed a small loving peck on her husband’s lips.

- - -

On the following day, Manfred was overjoyed to learn that he was allowed to duel the student who challenged him.

Emmrich offered to help him prepare for it. Which turned out to be quite necessary. They set up in the living room, moving the coffee table aside to have more space.

“Now, first with the rules. Do you know them?” Emmrich asked, palms joined in full lecture mode.

“If can’t move or thrown out arena, lose” Manfred offered in his still approximative hold of the common tongue.

Well, that was a start.

“This is partly true” Emmrich nodded. “And tell me, how do you plan on defeating your opponent?”

“I burn him” Manfred declared with a shrug.

Rook snorted, but went back to her book when Emmrich turned to her with a chiding look. No doubt Manfred was not a spirit of compassion; directly thinking about burning his adversary. He did love fire spells for some reason. Rook could understand; fire was simple. Effective, but not subtle at all.

Emmrich pinched the bridge of his nose. “No Manfred, fire spells are prohibited, as well as any spell directly hurting the body like blood magic, or decaying spells”

Manfred deflated. “What can use?” He wondered, as if his arsenal of spells revolved only on those forbidden.

Emmrich joined his hands in front of him again, his bangles singing a song that Rook loved. “Good question. Wind spells for one, Ice spells too, Ligthning but not too high voltage” He enumerated. “It takes finesse to be an accomplished duelist you see. It is not just about brute strength. You need a strategy of some sort, quick reflexes and thinking to take advantage of your opponent’s weaknesses”

Manfred listened intently as Emmrich taught him a thing or two about classic duel strategies. The more Emmrich explained and then demonstrated, exchanging a few friendly spares and spells with his disciple, the more Rook watched fondly, grinning wide from how much fun they seemed to be having.

- - -

The day of the duel soon arrived. The light atmosphere of the large room full of marble statues dedicated to duels contrasted with Emmrich’s solemn mood. He barely slept the previous night, and had been firing last minute advices at Manfred nonstop since breakfast.

Rook was at her husband’s arm, pleased and supportive. She felt a bit nervous too, admitedly. She wanted Manfred to have a good time, and she trusted he could win. He was a talented little magic skeleton. But Emmrich’s worry was a bit communicative so she hoped everything would go smoothly.

The place reminded her of that one time when, urged by Emmrich’s colleagues, she had agreed to duel her lover for fun. The memory made her smile. She remembered the way Emmrich fought, like he was dancing with her, all elegance and precise strength.. In theory the odds of wining hab been in her favor, but Emmrich was more familiar with the duel rules and knew her so well he could spot her weaknesses easily. She was a strong mage, confident and unpredictable. but she hadn’t realized how much he had observed her techniques when back in the Veilguard. They managed to each win a long fought round, but decided to stop there, all sweaty and breathless, ending up quite dishevelled and eager to go back home to each other to diffuse the growing tension between them. The other watchers had praised the impressive show they gave, as well as their fair play of ending in a tie.

And what a night it had been then when they had found themselves dancing between the sheets afterwards.

Emmrich placed one last encouraging pat on Manfred’s shoulder before he would leave to get in position in the arena, the sound bringing Rook out of her reverie.

The skeleton looked to his mentor, determined as he announced. “I win. I make you proud”

Rook’s heart positively melted as she watched Emmrich’s expression impossibly soften with affection. She swore she saw the shiny glint of a tear in the corner of his eye.

They waved at Manfred’s figure walking away as his opponent, a flashy young human with fiery red hair entered the arena. Given the heraldry on the large gold pendant he ostentiously wore, he was surely the offspring of an old and influential noble family.

Emmrich was visibly stressed, paling a little. “I hope he won’t hurt his bones. It is a painful process to put them back in place”

Rook took his hand in hers so he'd stop biting his nails. “He will be fine. The referee will stop them if things gets too dangerous”

Luckily, today’s referee turned out to be Vorgoth, whom both Emmrich and Rook trusted and respected.

Once the fighters were in place, they saluted, and Vorgoth signed for them to begin.

Encouragements but also jeers were heard from the crowd as the two apprentices exchanged spells that were easily countered by their shields, cautiously gauging their opponent.

Manfred kept up easily, but didn’t take initiative to incapacitate his adversary, so it left the other mage free to do as he pleased. With a hit of his staff to the ground, the human apprentice conjured a slippery layer of ice on the floor before him. He then quickly cast a wind spell that Manfred couldn’t block fully, and which made him flinch and trip, the poor skeleton landing on his coccyx.

And so Manfred lost the first round.

“Damn it” Rook clicked her tongue, already very invested in the fight. “It’s okay Manfred, you’ll bounce back!” She encouraged once the arena had been returned to its original state for the spirit to get up.

Beside her, Emmrich was alarmingly quiet. His eyes were fixed on Manfred’s opponent, his expression dark and irritated. Rook only ever saw him look that way to nobles he particularly despised.

During the small break between the rounds, the red-haired apprentice took upon himself to round the arena, bowing and waving at the crowd like he owned the place.

“Yeah, see how I tripped that thing? It didn’t see it coming!” He boasted, raising his arms to encourage a group of fangirls that screamed his name like lovestruck geese. Rook felt her blood start to boil in her veins. Most watchers were very nice and tolerant to Manfred. Most but not every watcher...

Her fist clenched at her side as the young mage passed them, making sure to stop in front of Emmrich.

“How did I do Professor?” He asked with a smirk, the taunt so unsubtle in his voice that he sounded ridiculous.

“Passable” Emmrich only said, standing straighter than ever and giving him his best unbothered look before he pretended to be very interested in the state of his nails.

Vorgoth motionned for the red-haired mage to get back into position, and when he turned his back to them, Rook barely felt a very subtle hint of a magic she knew was Emmrich’s before the noble’s son’s foot hedged and he fell face first onto the ground.

A roar of laughters rose from the crowd as Manfred’s opponent quickly rose, his face red from anger and embarassment. He did not have time to question what happened, for Vorgoth urged him to join him, least he be disqualified.

“He should tend to that weak left ankle” Emmrich commented lowly, only for Rook to hear, earning a low chuckle from her. For all his kindness, Emmrich could be mean and vindicative, even borderline petty when truly upset. And he hated bullies "I have no respect for show offs" He whispered to his wife, trying to justify his childish action when he saw the judging glint in her amused gaze. She loved when he was being mischevious, enjoying it even more for how rare of an occurrence it was.

“You reap what you sow…” Rook commented with a shrug, making Emmrich smile tightly.

Then the second round started.

The red-haired mage’s bruised ego made him more aggressive. More dangerous but also more sloppy. The crowd was wild, urging the mages to fight dirty, so far from the expected etiquette and chic of the Mourn Watch. Ah, youth…

Manfred blocked and dodged each brutal but predictable blow with ease. Had his opponent been more observant, he would have noticed the subtle change in hue of Manfred’s shield as the spirit used each attack aimed at him to charge it with energy.

"Get him Manfred!” Rook shouted as loud as possible, joining in the frenzy of comments from the crowd, making her husband start from her rowdy behaviour.

Upon hearing her words, Manfred hissed in determination and released all the energy accumulated in his shield in a thundering shockwave that sent his opponent flying, then crashing at the very edge of the arena.

Loud clapping and impressed whistles were heard as the crowd easily changed favourites, except for the group of fangirls too busy checking if their champion was alright. Turned out he was, save for a few bruises to his body and to his large ego.

“Oh dear, that was bright but a bit of an overkill” Emmrich commented lowly, barely able to hide the huge grin splitting his lips.

Vorgoth announced Manfred as the winner of the second round, and Emmrich politely clapped, trying to appear less invested than he truly was. For Rook, her husbands’s reactions were almost as much an entertaining show to watch as the actual duel.

With the two opponents now at a tie, the stakes of the third round were high, and the ambiance of the room became electryfying. Vorgoth had to calm a few overly enthusiastic students and order them to step back from the edges of the arena before he allowed the final round to begin.

“You little…!” Manfred’s adversary swore before he released a blast of burning greenish light.

The attack surprised Manfred, for it ate away at his shield, wild and stubborn. The little skeleton was forced to focus hard to dissipate the growing fire that hindered his vision more than it burnt him.

“Veilfire!” Emmrich gasped, outraged “Fire spells are forbidden, that’s suppose to include veilfire!’” He loudly disapprouved, stepping closer to the arena, but stopping when Vorgoth turned in his direction in a silent warning not to interfere.

The apprentice took Manfred’s distraction as an opportunity to charge with a hand on hand attack, swinging his staff hard at the skeleton. Manfred managed to block it with his own staff, but pure force was not his strong point given he had no muscles to back it up. His hold on his staff faltered under the strength of his opponent, and the spirit’s weapon was thrown to the ground out of his reach.

A panicked whimper escaped Emmrich whose hands reflexively covered his mouth in a way that reminded Rook of unpleasant memories. Internally, she urged Manfred to get a grip and do something. She knew he could. He was brave and clever and strong, contrary to what his adversary might think.

Under the crowd’s eager eyes, Manfred’s fists started glowing blue with an ice spell, and before his bones got hit with a second blow of his opponent’s staff, he punched him square in the jaw. Unelegant but deadly effective. The redhaired human fell to his knees and Vorgoth calmly announced that the skeleton had won.

After recovering from the shear surprise of the action, Emmrich and Rook exulted.

“Bravo Manfred!” Emmrich clapped and Rook whistled alongside the excited crowd. ‘You rock little man! Serves him right!’ she thought she heard someone say, and the thought that Manfred could have friends here to support him made her heart squeeze in her chest.

“That’s cheating!” The defeated apprentice accused, massaging his jaw as he slowly got up.

“So is using veilfire” Emmrich commented loudly from outside the arena, sending Vorgoth a dark glare.

“Technically only his spell collided with your face” Vorgoth declared, looking down onto the smaller human.

The redhaired boy protested but Vorgoth’s deep voice interrupted him. “Humbly accept your defeat young apprentice”

The younger mage lowered his head and bolted away from the room, followed by his weeping fanclub.

Manfred happily joined his caretakers outside the arena, a spring to his steps. “Yeah! I won!”

“What a quick reaction Manfred! That was unexpectedly clever! But where did you learn to do that?” Emmrich asked, more enthralled than skeptical about this unusual move that he never suggested during their training.

“Did like Rook do with bad guys!” Manfred excitedly replied and Rook flushed.

She recalled she had a bad habit of punching people in the face back when she was irritated by having Solas in her mind and overstressed from the prospect of the world ending.

“Well I suppose all examples can be beneficial” Emmrich chuckled, bringing Rook closer by her waist.

He then turned to Manfred again, a warm smile on his lips. “I am so very proud of you”

If skeletons could purr from happiness, Manfred did right there and then.

[moon-huny]

The Midnight Hour - ScareActor!Buggy

CW: My content is not for anyone under 18. Minors DNI. cursing, p in v sex, afab reader, choking, breath play, dom!Buggy, sub!Reader, edging, all that goofy sex stuff

Word Count: 5.2K

Summary: You and your closest friends visit the Halloween Horror Nights in your city to experience some new attractions. What happens when one of the actors catches your eye and you catch his?

A/N: Its still October 8th so I am technically not late. One quick thing. I was a scare actor for a few years, I have friends who do this professionally. Do Not! Under Any Circumstances! Go to haunts and act in sexually inappropriate ways to the actors. This story is a fantasy. It's not real. The actors at your local haunt might be playing characters, but they are still real human beings.

That being said, I know that for many people, their sexualities tend to *cough *cough awaken at haunts. This is just a very very hyper fantasized version of that. Be respectful to scare actors.

Happy Kinktober. Okay, that's all, enjoy.

Sequel Feel Your Power

“I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE,” a chorus of loud gasps fill the car as you and your friends prepare for the final belt of the song. “SOMEBODY’S WATCHING ME!”

As Rockwell plays out in Lete’s 2010 Subaru Forester, her girlfriend, Marnie, was already pressed against the window trying to get the best view of the theme park you all were about to enter.

“I see it! I see it!” exclaimed the red haired girl, tapping her finger into the glass of the window attempting to get Lete’s attention.

“No way, Mar? For real?” taunted the tall man beside you in the back seat. His hair was jet black and pin straight falling just atop his shoulders. He had dyed the ends green and he wore a face nearly full of piercings. 

“You’re telling me that the twenty-foot animatronic skeleton is where the theme park is?”

“Oh shut up, Caleb,” said Marnie with a sour face.

Tonight, your group of best friends talked you into buying tickets with them to the scariest haunted horror night in the state. After some convincing that lasted from mid-July until late-September, you finally agreed.

You wouldn’t say you were a horror fan, you weren’t opposed to a scary movie every now and then, but for the most part, horror just wasn’t your thing. The idea of walking around a fully decked out freak show with real life monsters waiting to scare you at every turn sounded about as fun as sleeping on needles.

“Alright, game plan, what attraction are we taking (y/n) to first?” said Blake. They were on the shorter side and had a bobbed hairstyle dyed a soft lavender color. Their eyes were their best feature and they always had some colorful eyeshadow shade applied over them – tonight it was burgundy.

“We won't be going anywhere until I find a place to park,” announced Lete, attempting to get the crew to hold their excitement until she found a good space.

“I’ll make a bet right now that by 11:00 p.m. all of you will be begging to go home,” said Caleb. He used to work at the theme park as a scare actor and knew all the ins and outs of the place. He also knew most of the actors who always had a difficult time scaring him.

“Fine, I’ll bet that,” said Marnie. “Loser has to make dinner for the whole group.”

“Deal,” replied Caleb confidently. “If you lose, you have to make haggis this weekend.”

“Dude, again?” said Blake. “Marnie just made that two nights ago.”

“Okay deal,” said Marnie. “If you lose, you have to make your yakitori recipe.”

“Counter, what about I make Ramen?”

“Nice try, Greenie, but you always make Ramen when it’s your turn to cook.”

“She’s right Caleb, it wouldn’t be much of a bet if you just made Ramen again.” Blake said, once again chiming in while scanning the rows of cars for a place for Lete to park the SubFor. “Oh! There Lee! Park there!”

“Thank you, finally! At least Bee is being helpful,” sighed Lete, cutting the wheel and pulling into the spot.

“Fine, Yakitori it is,” said Caleb, jumping out of the car and heading a straight-shot towards the entrance. 

Everyone spilled from the car, you shuffled out behind Blake.

“Hey, are you okay?” They said helping you down and shutting the door behind you. “You’re usually a lot more chatty, what’s up?”

“Oh yea, no I’m fine,” you said, smoothing out your cotton mini skirt and thanking yourself for wearing a leather jacket over your light low cut sweater. The day’s might still be warm, but with fall already making itself at home, nights were getting colder.

“I’ve just never been to a horror night before and, with the way Caleb described it, it's going to be a little more than my neighbor's haunted house.”

“Well, we all want you to have fun but, if you get spooked and wanna leave, just let me know,” said Blake. “Either way we’ll be getting a great meal out of it.”

Both of you continued your walk just behind your more energetic counterparts. Poor Lete was being dragged by Marnie, her long inky black braids swaying behind her as she struggled to keep pace with her fiery girlfriend. Caleb, of course, leading the charge inside, already smooth talking the ticket counter girls.

“The others will just have to suck it up and come another night,” Blake continued. “With Caleb knowing everyone he does, I am sure that getting tickets won’t be difficult.”

“Thanks, Bee,” you said, your eyes slowly scanning up the absurdly large skeleton making a labored waving motion beckoning you to a night of fun.

:･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.:

“Okay, Ash and Mads just told me that this year, there is a new haunted house,” said Caleb, walking backwards into the park. “It’s pirate clown themed.”

“What, did they have trouble deciding?” said Lete scanning the map of the park in her hands. Suddenly, a man large enough to throw Lete across a football field, ran up from behind her swinging a chainsaw and revving the motor.

She and Marnie both started screaming, grabbing onto one another and backing away from the terrifying overall-clad actor.

You’d be lying if you said that it didn’t scare you too. Though, since entering the park, you heightened your senses making sure to pay attention to every detail around you worried you might become the target of scares. Yet, the slight shock you felt when the actor loomed over you sent a tug straight to the pit of your stomach, an action you explained a way but one you’d fall victim to all too soon.

Caleb threw his head back and laughed, high-fiving the actor as he continued on his way, running up to small groups with his loud gardening tool. There were other grounds-keeper themed actors walking the park. All of them had different tools – like shovels and scythes – some were covered in dirt with flowers and branches growing out of their skin, copious amounts of fake blood covered them all.

“I think pirate clowns sound fun,” said Blake who was seemingly unfazed by nearly every scare. When asked how they are able to maintain such a calm demeanor, they simply said that the artistry distracts them from their fear. 

“Then pirate clowns it is!” Announced the green haired man, turning around with a flourish and leading the group in the direction. Lete had long since abandoned her map duties for fear that a distraction would make her an easy target yet again.

:･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.

You and your group of friends stood among twenty or so other people in front of one of the most elaborate haunted house set ups you’d ever seen. A marginally sized big top tent sat next to a massive reconstruction of a pirate ship. The tent opened up onto a small center ring filled with actors role playing their different acts. All of the different characters wore clothing that mixed both circus and pirate themed garb.

“God, I love funding the arts,” Caleb said, running inside the tent giddy with excitement at an attraction he clearly hadn’t experienced before.

Clowns threw knives at targets, an animal tamer with skeletal makeup cracked his whip at an animatronic seal skeleton, the acrobats swung around the ceiling tossing foam body parts and pirate scabbards back and forth to one another.

The whole thing was a spectacle. The circus tent itself was merely a themed waiting room. The actual haunted house wound through the hull of the ship, up onto the main deck and back down the other side.

Grabbing a seat on the first row, you sat and watched the show. Eventually, after doing bits with the different actors, carrying on spooky conversations and having overall fun interaction with the different characters around you, you heard shouting from off stage.

“NO NO NO, IT’S ALL WRONG!” said a man clearly dressed to be the captain of the imaginary pirate crew. “Spotlight was late, you completely missed my entrance. And where oh where was the dancing lion?”

As the clown captain approached one of the crew members, he pulled a knife and spun the animal tamer around, “slicing” his throat and sending the actor crumpling to the floor.

“I bet that was so fun to choreograph,” whispered Caleb most likely already clued in to how they were able to pull off such a convincing execution through the magic of theater.

“I just want to know who did the costume design,” Blake whispered back. “The story telling through the clothing and makeup is brilliant.”

“Would you two shut it!” Lete and Marnie said in unison at a hushed volume so as not to draw attention.

You, on the other hand, were stone still. You were unabashedly attracted, no, aroused by the captain. He was gorgeous. Eyes liked you’d never seen and a demeanor that drew the entire room into the palm of his hand. Everyone watched as he paced around the ring, leering at each and every audience member. 

He then directed his attention to you from across the room, your eyes blew wide. In the faint lighting he noticed just how on edge you were. If there was one thing he loved, it was scaring little newcomers like you. The way heartbeats would quicken, eyes would become filled with fear and the screams he could pull from people, that feeling was almost euphoric.

Almost better than sex. 

“Ghouls, Ghosts and Freaks of all ages,” he began in a gradios fashion. “I welcome you to the worst night of your life.”

He made his way to the center of the ring, a singular center spotlight shone down on him.

“As my hostages, it’s only right that my pirate crew take you aboard my ship to see if you can live to tell the tale. I’m Buggy, Buggy the Clown. Buggy, the flashy fool! Buggy, the genius jester!”

He glanced over his shoulder and saw you staring. His eyes roamed over you. God, aren’t you gonna be fun he thought to himself. Then spoke almost directly at your now very self continuous position, “Welcome Aboard.”

Allowing his gaze to linger in your direction and successfully making eye contact, he smirked. That was the last you saw of him as he disappeared behind the curtain and prepared to lie in wait.

Marnie turned to you, “Hey, (y/n), do you know that clown guy?”

“Oh ho ho, she’s about to,” laughed Caleb with a knowing look on his face.

:･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.

Your small group got up to get on the ship first. The attraction followed a simple one way hallway system that, according to Caleb, would be littered with actors waiting to scare each and every one of them.

What you didn’t know was that after the first minute or so inside, dividers would drop from the ceiling above and divide the room to surprisingly separate into different hallways, sending you all on completely different paths.

Blake and Marnie were sent one direction, Caleb and Lete in another and you were left all alone – or so you thought.

Walking down the halls of the spooky ship, you encountered absolutely no actors or any people at all. The different colored lights reflected in the ship. Shades of red, purple, blue, and the occasional green light directed your path through the ship’s hull. It wasn’t until you reached a particularly narrow hallway bathed in red light that you all of a sudden felt a presence behind you. You froze in fear.

“Hmm, seems a little mouse scurried onto my ship,” said the all too familiar voice.

In the dark hallway alone, in a place you didn’t recognize, with a man you didn’t know, you should be more than terrified. And you were, you really were, but you were also filled with the most uncontrollable desire. How on earth could you let him know that you felt this way? The embarrassment you’d feel would probably kill you.

“So … little mouse,” he began slowly stalking around you, not touching, never touching. 

Though it would feed his ego to have you squirm in fear beneath him, touching you was so against the rules it wasn’t even funny.

“Is my ship scary? Do I make you nervous?”

He leaned down slightly to get in your face. The tactic was one he was used to using on guests that were so clearly new to these experiences. Start small, lull the prey into a false sense of security, then pounce. Sometimes he wondered what was wrong with him, sometimes.

Getting closer to you now, he couldn’t deny that you were cute, he could tear you apart in your little skirt. Shit, coupled with that neckline? You might as well have begged him to look at your tits.

But the sweet and innocent expression plastered on your face? That was what was doing it for him. He’d seen it before, you were expecting him to take it easy on you – yeah right, in your dreams he’ll rip into you like a wolf on a basket toting little girl.

“Oh don’t worry my sweet girl,” he said in a low voice as he continued to move forward into your space causing you to back up slowly. 

“What do you say, we spend a little time together.”

With a much harsher tone he used his presence to back you against one of the walls of the enclosed space. When your back hit the wooden plank wall of the ship's hull, you made a sound the captain sure as hell didn’t expect.

It wasn’t a scream, or a cry for help, or even a laugh at the absurdity of it all like he was used to – it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. The little breathy moan that left your lips when your body hit the wall made his cock twitch.

“Holy fuck, I want you to make that sound for me again.” 

Where the hell did that come from? The expert scare actor he was, Buggy tried desperately to keep professional relationships with all of the guests, but something about you was different. Something about you made him want to dig deeper, drink the poison, try the drug.

You looked up at him in shock, but finally began to understand and acquaint yourself with your feelings from before. Something about fear, the lack of control, you wanted him to take whatever he wanted from you and to learn of such a thing right now could not be more inconvenient. You couldn’t speak.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” said Buggy as he backed away from you. “That was … wow yeah okay … I’m so sorry. I fucked up. You have every right to deck me and run for the hills. Let me just … I can call for someone to walk you out?”

You thought about it, truly for a moment you did, but with the way his eyes had darkened with desire for you and the sound you made for him. This was a power you refused to relinquish.

“No I … I think I … I like how you were talking to me,” shy, but at least you got your point across. His move.

He looked up at you with a momentarily confused expression. Until, of course, he caught on. His expression changed, returning to one much more confident.

“That so?” He said, placing a hand to one side of your head propping himself up to lean into you. “I’m so glad you said that, sweet girl. Why don’t you go ahead and tell me a little more about what you like? Let me make sure we’re on the same page.”

His red painted lips pulled upward into a smile, a cute one if not for the subject at hand.

“I think I’d like … I’d like to be scared.” Somehow you pulled some confidence out at the last moment to let the pirate know you’d be happy to have him do whatever he wants with you.

He leaned in much further to you. His lips nearly brushed yours but instead charting a course across your cheek and to your ear where he whispered, “I need you to tell me exactly how you want me to scare you. What do you want me to do to you, mouse?”

A gasp pulled quickly through your lungs, something that made him chuckle into the shell of your ear. His hot breath fanning against your skin was already starting to make you feel much warmer despite the cold temperatures outside. 

“I want … I want you to touch me … use me … however you want.”

“Now we're talkin’, pumpkin.”

His mouth finally connected with your own, if you were warm before, at his touch you were fully set ablaze. Peeling the gloves off of his hands, one came up to grip your throat and the other found its home around your waist. As he gripped around your soft skin he felt you moan just ever so slightly.

Buggy felt a deep need to torment you. Your kiss was good, more than good it was soft and needy, the kind of kiss that makes a girl weak, but too much pleasure wasn’t good, he wanted you begging for him to stop, crying for him to slow down, pleading for a release he still wasn’t so sure you deserved. He pulled away.

“Hey beautiful, I gotta ask you a question,” he panted out. “You need a safe word, okay?”

You were in a haze, your body ached to be touched and kissed by him. The thought of a safe word made you weak. Safe from what? You whispered the first word that came to your mind. 

“Christmas,” you said through your quick shallow breathing. 

“Christmas?” He laughed a breathy little laugh. “Okay, Christmas it is.”

His lips found yours once again, this time it was heated and heavy. He kissed you back with a hunger and a desire to make you submit. He bit, he didn’t stop, it started to hurt. 

God, you were so easy to rile, to make a whiny little mess of. He thought, now that you had a little saving grace to use when you couldn’t take it, Buggy could really start playing.

Slowing down his kiss, every few seconds Buggy would squeeze your throat, and release, squeeze and release. Gently at first, he wanted to be gentle. He might be a freak with a kink for causing pain and fear, but he also wanted you to live so gently he would go.

He began to notice that you liked it. His kiss slowed down and he began to simply tease you with little soft kisses here and there. He kept his lips on yours just allowing them to brush one another faintly. You started making little sounds and taking deeper breaths in between the contracting of his hand around your windpipe. He was proud of you for learning the rhythm so quickly, what else would you pick up on? 

Finally, after releasing your throat again, and punctuating it with a quick peck to your lips, he clamped down on your throat, hard. He forced your head back into the wall. Your eyes went so wide as you tried to gasp for air, hands shooting up out of instinct to try and pull his hand away.

His other hand came up and dipped under your skirt to feel you over your panties. With all he’d been doing to you, it's no wonder you were so wet.

“Oh baby. This all for me? This sweet little pussy is soaked just for me?” 

You nodded, tears rolling down your face. He had released the grip on your windpipe, but kept his thumb and two middle fingers pressed firmly on either side of your neck making you feel lightheaded. The praise going straight to your core.

“It’s a damn fuckin’ shame I don’t stick my cock in whores. I’m jus’ gonna have to use that slutty little mouth instead.”

He tossed you to the ground, “Knees. Now.”

As he undid the belt of his costume, you did the best you could to sit up and kneel before him. Your hand went up to reach for the skin of your neck feeling the raw and abused flesh. Buggy saw a little tiredness creep up on your face, a little bit of worry.

“Hey,” he said in a completely different tone than before. “Look at me, sweet girl.” 

Your eyes flicked up to look at him and God that face. All tear-stained, your mascara running down your cheeks, your eyes so pleading and nervous. He had to hold back. 

“You wanna make your captain feel good don’t you?”

A flash of excitement shone in your eyes. “Yes, sir I do.”

Holy fuck, you were perfect. Intoxicated but you, he pulled out his hard member. Using what precum had leaked out, he began to stroke his hand down his cock. If you weren’t turned on before, the way he looked down at you in the crimson light jacking-off inches from your face made you want him even more. 

In a growl he said, “Say it again.”

“Yes, sir I do.”

He kept going, bliss from how obedient you were. “Say, yes captain I do.”

“Yes, captain I do.”

Another low moan escaped him. “Say, yes Daddy I do.” 

“Yes, Daddy I do.”

“Good fuckin’ girl.” He snarled, grabbing a fist full of your hair. “Now open wide.”

You did exactly as you were told. He tapped his cock against your waiting tongue then pulled your mouth onto and around his painfully hard cock.

“Oh, holy fuck.” Your throat contracted around him as you attempted to get air through your nose. 

The painful press of your knees into the hard floor and your inability to find any relief for the aching need you felt made your desire to help him finish all the more urgent.

You went along with his movements, bobbing your head up and down gagging on him. He looked down at you, bathed in red, eyes looking up crying and pleading.

“Touch yourself,” he demanded.

You shook your head ‘no’ as you continued to suck him off.

“Excuse me?” he said a lilt in his voice.

You stopped sucking with a delicious little ‘pop’ and brought your hands up to continue your work.

“I want you to touch me, captain,” you said. Voice going horse and breathing heavy but still attempting to sound sexy.

“S’that what you want, huh? Think you can just stop what I asked you to do and make demands, saying ‘i want’ ‘i want’ ‘i want.’” His tone mocked you as you slowed your pace on him, feeling fear rise up yet again.

It was the little game you played. He would be gentle, sweet, give you something you wanted, then he would switch it up, get angry and show no mercy.

“You dumb little slut,” he spat at you. Pulling you off the ground by your hair, he made you stand in front of him again. “Why don’t I give you what you want, hmm? You can decide if it was worth it.”

He dragged you onto the set piece slightly further down the hallway. Two crates placed next to one another, this time the set was all green and purple.

He ripped your panties off and shoved them in his pocket. Hiking up your skirt, he got to work. His large hands found their way to your drenched little hole. Pulling his fingers through your slick, he began to work your clit with the pads of his middle and marriage fingers.

“You’re so wet for me, sweetheart,” he mused. You let out a few little squeaking moans here and there, but he wasn’t moving his fingers fast enough to bring you to a climax. Not yet, anyway.

“More. More please, captain,” you sighed. “Daddy, please give me more. It feels so good.”

“Greedy little thing,” the comment was so casual, so uncaring. “You are going to get what I give you.” With that, he slapped your clit, hard. The quick sting causing you to jump and yelp in pain.

“Fuckin say ‘thank you,’” tone low and almost unfeeling. He hit you again. “I fuckin’ said, say ‘thank you,’” he repeated much angrier and lounder than before. 

“Thank you! thank you, please … I’m sorry,” you warbled out.

“Now she says sorry too? I could have had your lips on my cock, I could have cum down your throat and now you wanna say sorry?”

You looked up at him from your horizontal position on the crates, he looked at you with frustration and anger and then … amusement? What was he thinking?

“Why don’t I return the favor? Then we can see how you fuckin like it.”

He knelt down in front of you and threw your legs open to access your weeping slit. Wasting no time, he dove into your waiting sex. His tongue flicks over your clit. He quickly sucks and circles your sensitive bud over and over again in a pattern that as you cry out in pleasure.

“Yes – yesyesyesyes please that so – that’s so good please don’t stop.”

He doesn’t stop, opting instead to push two fingers into you curling them upwards to hit that spot he knows will drive you absolutely insane. Feeling the warmth and softness of your pussy almost drives him feral. He wants badly to push his dick into you, but he’d rather save that for later.

“Listen to you baby girl, thats a good fuckin girl for me.” He pushes his tongue in between your wet folds, his large red nose finding purchase on your already very sensitive clit. It wasn’t going to take much more.

“You gonna cum, hmm? You wanna cum for Daddy?”

All that you could muster were a few good yes’s before you felt that chord in your body tighten to a near snap and then … he was gone.

“No! No! Why why – why did you?” tears fell down your face. There was nothing left, the entire orgasm he built came tumbling down around you and all he did was stand there stroking his painfully hard cock, if working you up had turned him on, ruining your orgasm made him absolutely inconsolable. 

“Baby, do you remember our safe word?” He asks. 

You nod. Bottom lip swelling out and eyes filled with tears. Your skirt was still pulled up around your waist and somewhere along the way your top lifted up your to expose more of your gorgeous body. You were a vision in runny mascara.

“You can still say it,” he said. “You say it,” he stood closer to you cupping your swollen face in his hand gently. “And I’ll slow down, I’ll be gentle with you from now on, okay?”

You were frustrated, teary eyed, exhausted, but you still hadn’t cum and if there was one thing you wanted more than anything it was for that fire inside of you to be lit, stoked, and snuffed by him. 

“But,” you said, eyebrows pressing together into a look of innocent perfection. “My favorite holiday is Halloween.”

After that, something in him snapped. Buggy pulled your hips to the ends of the shipping crates begging whatever God he could think of that the prop team made these to be sturdy. He pressed himself to your entrance and, when he was all lined up, snapped his hips into you.

“Oh fuck – you are so fucking tight, God damn shit baby you are gripping me so – so tight. Keeping this sweet little pussy to yourself? Wasn’t going to tell me about how good it grips my cock? Fuck baby, Daddy is going to need you to come soon okay?”

He could hardly hold back, slamming his aching cock into you over and over. All he can do is watch your little face contort and twist and moan out in pleasure. The sounds you make, not just the ones that fall from your lips but that dirty slapping and wet squelch of your pussy around his dick is enough to nearly send him over.

As for you, Buggy could feel that you weren’t going to last much longer. The random little flutters and squeeze of your pussy around him fell into a rhythm. Soon you’d be crying and screaming out for him. And God, did he want to hear you scream.

He moved his hand to your clit so he could rub quickly over it hoping to get you there fast, a prayer that would be answered by a tightening of your already vice like pussy.

“There we go, thats my fuckin good girl – good fuckin girl for Dadddy. Cum for your Captain, slut. Fucking cum for me.”

His words of encouragement were all you needed to finally let ago, the pirate clown spilling hot ropes of cum inside along with you.

“Oh – oh my God,” you breathed out slowly and steadily. 

“It’s, Buggy baby, though I suppose I’ll also accept God,” he smirked.

He helped you off the crate and worked in putting you back together. Handing you a makeup wipe to clean your face, you gave him a confused and somewhat skeptical look.

“What? I am wearing like three pounds of makeup on my face. Are you surprised I keep a couple of these on me?” he said.

After cleaning you up, Buggy pulled out his phone to make a call. He led you through some backstage hallways to the very back of the haunted house and waited with you there, finally someone picked up.

“Hey Caleb,” he said. You spun around to face him dramatically, a shocked expression plastered itself there. “No, no I think she really enjoyed the main attraction. Okay … yep lot F … okay she’ll be here.”

He hung up.

“Are you joking? You know Caleb?”

“Yea, gorgeous, everybody does.”

“I –” he cut you off

“My understudy has been covering for me for too long, pretty girl, I gotta get back to work.” He slowly began to shut the backdoor. “See ya next Halloween, yea?” And with a wink he was gone.

“Yo!” you turned to see Caleb sauntering up to you. “Did you get kidnapped?” He said with a mocking tone.

“Did you plan this?” you asked somewhat horrified.

“I thought you guys would get along, sue me.” said the green haired man.

“Well we did, so good call.” You said, blushing and staring at the ground. “Where is everybody?”

“We all split up a bit after getting off this ship thing. Marnie and Lete went off on their own after I introduced Blake to one of the makeup artists. And I’ve just been stalking around, you know, reliving the glory days.”

“They serve food here right?” you asked, walking back through the gap in attractions to get to the main thoroughfare. “Yea, they do,” he said, following behind you. “I bet we can find you something to snack on, pretty girl.”

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚

taglist: @max-505 @kurinhimenezu

[meggannn]

rambling thoughts here, and not to be all doom and gloom, but: i think i saw this coming when bioware announced htla won't matter in veilguard, so in my head i'm not surprised, but my heart is still very disappointed to find out the leak of imported choices showing ~3 decisions really is all we're getting.

i’ve been feeling for a while that every new game from bioware is probably going to aim to appeal to new players going forth, and i’m preparing myself that the choice importations we know them for are likely gone for good. inquisition was very new player-friendly despite being only a few years after da2 (which is fine) but ten years later, 0% of origins matters, 0% of awakening matters, 0% of 2 matters, and ~5% of inquisition matters. ten years from now, veilguard will be old news too, and it’ll be the next new batch of players they’re after. dragon age's proudest feature, its connective tissue tracking your changes between games, is basically a thing of the past, and i'm honestly expecting the same of mass effect going forward.

it makes showcasing varric and morrigan prominently in the trailers feel even worse, and i was already unhappy with how much space they're taking up. i'd guessed it was nostalgia bait, but now that we know they won't remember or mention hawke, hawke's lover, the warden, kieran, the well... their inclusion feels like insecurity that their game won't do well without these characters, but they don't, or can't, commit to expanding on the many variations that these characters can be.

based off of his lines in the trailers, i'm prepared to just be seeing varric the quip machine, who conveniently won't mention any details about hawke, but i'm sure his possible guilt over his role in his friend's death won't affect his personality at all when he's establishing yet another hero in the making; and a one-size-fits-all morrigan who is now the same character regardless of "i will not be the mother you were to me" or whether she drank any interesting bathwater. who cares, it's morrigan in the trailer! she's swooping! you guys like swooping, right? (by this point i fully expecting them to dig out varric's resurrected corpse in 2035 to get people to buy dragon age 5. and the frustrating thing is that it will work.)

i've had the suspicious sense that veilguard was made for solavellan players (and new players) first, everyone else second, and this news is not really changing my mind. i'm not happy, but i'm also not surprised.

[rivalsforlife]

Interviews Regarding 456, and the possibility of AAI ports and AA7.

Recently, a bunch of interviews with the producer of the upcoming Ace Attorney 456 collection, Kenichi Hashimoto, have been released. Most of these are in Japanese, discussing various elements of the upcoming ports, including new features like the Orchestra Hall and Story Mode, but a few bring up some interesting future directions for the series, including the possibility of an AA4 anime or live-action drama, AAI2 ports, and AA7. As well, some discuss the influence of overseas sales on the current direction of the series.

**Please keep in mind that most of these interviews (with one exception) were originally in Japanese, and translated with google translate (with some possibly inaccurate modifications by me). As a result, the validity of the translation may be unreliable.**

From Gamer, regarding overseas fans and the increase in sales overseas:

--What kind of opinions and fan base do you get from overseas about the "Ace Attorney" series?

Hashimoto: The “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy” was released in 2019, and the number of users and sales have increased significantly in regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia.

--With the exception of "Ace Attorney Investigations," I think all numbered titles in the "Ace Attorney" series can now be played on current consoles. Was this possible because of the great response to the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy?

Hashimoto: Yes. As I mentioned earlier, it has been well received in North America, Europe, and Asia, and the number of users has increased, and of course there are people asking, "Why are 1, 2, and 3 available but not 4?" So I thought I had to do something about it.

Also, I wanted users to see games 4, 5, and 6, which are now playable on current consoles, so I was able to develop and release them. I think again that it is a very happy thing.

From this Famitsu Interview, regarding the future of the series:

--In 2023, there were musicals and readings of "The Great Ace Attorney", but I'm also curious about the future development of the "Ace Attorney" series.

Hashimoto: After the 20th anniversary of the Ace Attorney series, I would like to prepare various things for the 25th anniversary. The same goes for orchestral concerts, and I'd also like to do plays, musicals, and anime.

The TV anime was made up to season 2 with Phoenix Wright as the main character, but Apollo has not appeared yet, and since it is a courtroom story, a live-action drama seems interesting.

-- Since ``Ace Attorney'' was made into a movie once, there is a possibility of a live-action drama as well.

Hashimoto: That's right. However, it's not like my dreams will come true right away... I hope all the fans of "Ace Attorney'' can look forward to it while imagining the various possibilities in the future.

From IGN Japan:

--What are your plans for the future of the series? Could you please tell me about the possibility of ports of the "Ace Attorney Investigations" series, or another mainline entry?

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell you, there is nothing. However, we have no intention of ending the "Ace Attorney" series here, and we would like to see the series grow older, reaching its 25th anniversary in 2026 and its 30th anniversary in 2031. I don't know when or what I'll be able to announce, but please stay tuned for more information.

--If there were to be a new work such as ``Ace Attorney 7,'' what kind of thing would you want?

It's difficult to balance making a work that fans of the series can enjoy while also making it a work that new players can enjoy, but it is necessary to have the charm that is common to the entire "Ace Attorney" series. This includes the story, the characters, the puzzles, the tempo. These four will be essential for "Ace Attorney."

And finally from Siliconera about the news I've been waiting my whole life for -- this interview was actually published in English!

With so many Ace Attorney collections out now and games released, how would you feel about an Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth collection that includes localization of the second game?

Hashimoto: The development team is aware that fans are hoping for this. Unfortunately, we have no announcements at this time.

Most of this is of course corporate speak of not being able to confirm or deny anything, but this is the closest we've gotten to confirmation that AAI2 might be localized so far. As well, it does sound like the series is doing well, particularly overseas, which is encouraging for people hoping for more. It definitely doesn't sound like they think the series is dead yet!

[britt-kageryuu]

The stream has started, and the scene changes over to Donnie, model dressed in a purple to black ombre suit, black shoes, and his bandana with goggles, standing on a stage like he was about to give a presentation.

"Greetings Balemates! I'm sure many of you saw our post about an announcement. Well don't worry it's not very big. We're just releasing access to a game that many in the Patreon discord has known about since the private game servers were launched." Donnie grabs a tablet to que up the reveal, "Now those on the servers know that it's not what you're playing, but I don't think the legal team wants to try fighting the company that owns the original that's on the server. Clears Throat. Well on to the announcement."

On a screen next to them is art of a bunch of cartoony turtles, with different accessories, infront of three different environments, a small city, a sewer/subway, and a pizzeria. There's a mock up of a game name, there is clearly a sign that reads 'Club Turtle' underneath a taped on piece of paper that says 'Placeholder: Turtle/Reptile/Amphibian City'.

"So many of you saw me working on the mock up on stream not to long ago. And Yes, it is a blatant Club Penguin clone, with some differences of course. It initially was just going to be Turtles, but as you can see, we're thinking of adding more varieties of possible avatars." Donnie switches over to a video.

The video is just basic gameplay of a Pink Dressed Turtle goes into a shop and buys a new outfit, then the same turtle in its new outfit goes to play a mini that was a simple ball toss. The video goes on to show the turtle buying a 'house', they chose a Train Car, and do some basic customization. Then the video follows the turtle to a small crowd of other Turtles who are doing different emotes, before a spray paint can goes across the screen to cover a 'Club Turtle' sign with Turtle City(W.I.P.).

"Well as you can see, it's not going to be a highly, how do I word this? Original? Super high quality?" Donnie stops to mutter about his wording, and then goes on a slight under his breath tangent about not writing a full script and only going off bullet points. "Anywho! The game is basically a free to play game, but really the only thing that paying and money with do you is the 'VIP' shop features, and customizations. Heck you're not buying any in game currency, the shops with just have an extended inventory of VIP items."

Donnie brings up an example, showing how with a VIP pass there's like 10 extra items on the daily inventory. Because this implies a rotating inventory of different items, there was even a tab marked 'seasonal items' on the shop menu.

There are mixed reactions to this announcement, if only because of some confusion on how this will work. While others are questioning if the VIP pass is like a one time thing, or subscription type thing.

"I see some questions, and to answer the one about the VIP, the price hasn't been figured, but it will be a monthly thing. It's inclusion is mostly because some people can't grasp a free to play game with no adds, or some weird way to work in making people pay." Donnie looks to their side, and after a second glares at something, and gives a gesture that reads 'well what should I say?!', "Sorry, one of my siblings was commenting on how I would make a FTP game, and not find a way to charge the players lots of money. Well the answer is. We needed a legit semi waste of money to offset something weird, finance wise. Yeah it makes no sense, but it's nothing illegal, just... the finance people are weird. They sometimes make no sense, even when I can understand them."

After another short rant Donnie remembers that they're still live, on stream, to multiple people who are now going to think their possibly doing something illegal.

"Clears Throat. Once again, this may not be the most original idea, but it's the best way to give our audience a Club Penguin like experience. We don't have all the expansions figured just yet, and it won't be live until we finish getting the servers set up, and properly secured." Donnie switches the screen to show a web page with the w.i.p. logo and a coming soon with multiple robot turtles moving wires, circuit boards, and boxes around the page. "This page is live, but there is no connection to the game yet. I hope you all will enjoy this, and give us feedback on what you think."

Donnies model suddenly changed clothes to his hoodie, tech pants, and boots. They let out a breath, and look a bit more relaxed. The background changes to the studio with beanbags, pillows, and blankets.

"Now that that announcement is out of the way! Alright everyone get in here, we're playing that sidescroller beat-em-up I found with the turtles!"

Raph, Leo, and Mikey quickly claim their seats, and controllers eager to start the game.

----------------

Masterpost

I had multiple Club Penguin videos recommended to me by the algorithm, and I thought about Donnie making his own version because of how popular it was. Yeah one of the secret patreon game servers is Club Penguin.

And the weird finance thing is just some odd logic that was made up, because I don't think Donnie would actually trust investors, but there is technically a finance person on staff.

[wanderersrest]

An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 7: The Witching Hour Is Here!

Spoiler Warning: This post contains spoilers for one Brave Bang Bravern. I'd recommend watching at least the first episode of Bravern before continuing.

Welcome to the final installment of An Abbreviated History of Mecha! Last time, we had some technical difficulties due to the Lich screwing things up with its time shenanigans covered what many would consider to be mecha's "Dark Age." Now, we will see how the genre has recovered. It remains to be seen how this decade will go down in history, but so far mecha shows have had a minor bit of a rebound. Though that insipid line of thinking (you've probably heard it at one point: "mecha shows are about the robots, not the characters") is still doing a bit of harm to the general reception of mecha shows, the canon is doing better than before. Not well, like it was in the 90's, but it's not in dire straits.

Victory is never decided by mobile suit performance alone.

Nor by the skill of the pilot, alone.

The result itself is the only proof!

Kyoukai Senki/AMAIM: Warrior At the Borderline (2021)

Kicking off the decade, 2021 would give us a new franchise in the form of the former Xebec, now Sunrise Beyond series AMAIM: Warrior At the Borderline. Sporting smaller robots in a setting similar to Code Geass but Japan was split into three by three world superpowers like it was Post-World War II Germany, AMAIM would be one of the few new mecha shows to come out that would be animated entirely in 2D.

Megaton Musashi (2021)

Developed by Level-5 Studios, Megaton Musashi is a game series that pays homage to the mecha stories of old, particularly that of Getter Robo. The game itself would suffer in terms of marketing, as Level-5 would end up shuttering their US studio in this decade. Which is wild, because this series would also get an anime adaptation that's only started airing this year.

Also, Megaton Musashi has a lot of crossovers with older mecha shows like Getter Robo and Combattler V.

SSSS.Dynazenon (2021) & Gridman Universe (2023)

Returning in 2021 would be Studio Trigger with the follow-up to SSSS.Gridman, SSSS.Dynazenon. Based off of the Dyna Dragon from the original Gridman the Hyper Agent, SSSS.Dynazenon would carry on the energy from its predecessor in terms of energy and heart.

2023 would also see the worlds of SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon collide with the movie finale Gridman Universe, bringing the casts of both shows together for one last hurrah for Trigger's Gridman trilogy.

Back Arrow (2021)

While 2021 was a good year for mecha in general, one show that doesn't get talked about more is Goro Taniguchi's Back Arrow. Set in the walled world of Lingalind, Back Arrow would give us a story where the mecha are powered by a character's convictions.

That's right! Back Arrow is quite possibly the single greatest series in terms of highlighting what piloted giant robots are all about. These stories were never about the giant robot itself; the giant robots were living extensions of the pilots who controlled them. Hence why the breiheights of Back Arrow are based purely on a character's core beliefs.

Getter Robo Arc (2021)

2020 would also see the surprise announcement of an adaptation of the unfortunately unfinished Getter Robo Arc. With the goal of wrapping up the story as best as possible without the guiding hand of series creator Ken Ishikawa, Getter Robo Arc's anime adaptation would finally release in 2021. With this, the Getter Robo saga can finally come to an end.

If you've already watched his video on Getter Robo, Cheese GX also has a follow-up covering Getter Robo Arc specifically.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash (2021) & Cucuruz Doan's Island (2022)

And in case you didn't believe me when I said 2021 was a good year for mecha, let me remind you of something: Gundam was featured as part of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Gundam would see the creation of the now-disassembled RX-78-2 Gundam in Yokohama as part of the celebration of the games. The RX-0 Gundam Unicorn would also make a cameo in the background during the Olympic Rock Climbing event, as Gundam Front Tokyo was the venue.

Most important of all for us, is that 2021 would see the release of part one of a trilogy of movies based on the Hathaway's Flash novel. And as if that wasn't enough, 2022 would also see the release of a movie based on the infamous episode of the original series known as Cucuruz Doan's Island. And as a reminder: Gundam's not done yet. I haven't even gotten to the other big Gundam series yet. These were just the two major series released for the Universal Century in this decade.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022)

Where Gundam made really big news in this decade was with the release of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. Set in the Ad Stella timeline, G-Witch would bring awareness to the franchise that hadn't really been seen since it's heyday in the 90's. G-Witch would also differentiate itself from the rest of the Gundam series by presenting us with Gundam's first female main protagonist, the very tanuki-coded Suletta Mercury (and that depends, because if we're saying Gundam protagonist, then I'd argue technically War in the Pocket's Christina McKenzie has Suletta beat by a couple decades; this isn't even getting into Ecoile du Ciel). And not only is she the first female protagonist, Suletta is also Gundam's first queer protagonist!

Bullbuster (2023)

If there is any series that I wish I had caught while it was airing last year, it would definitely be Bullbuster. Cut from the same cloth as Patlabor and Dai-Guard, Bullbuster presents to us a construction robot is used to fight... aliens?

LEGO movie, is that you?

Okay, seriously though, I do think Bullbuster got drowned out due to being in a year that also included The Witch From Mercury.

Brave Bang Bravern (2024)

Man, if you thought The Witch From Mecury was gay...

2024 would open with Cygames Studio's Brave Bang Bravern. Directed by Masami Obari (a man who I have somehow failed to mention until now), Bravern would manage to capture the joy of the Brave franchise of old (and really mecha shows on the whole), all while making it very gay.

And I mean it. Bravern is quite possibly the single gayest show to come out in the 2020's. Maybe even of all time.

And that's really a wrap on pretty much everything that's come out, but there is one upcoming series set to come out next month...

Grendizer U (Airs July 2024)

Not seeming to want to be left out, the Mazinger saga would also get a surprise announcement in 2023 with a teaser for Grendizer U. Set to air in 2024, Grendizer U is going to be a reboot of the original UFO Robot Grendizer series, though some changes have been made (namely, Kouji has now brought along both Sayaka and Professor Yumi; more importantly, Kouji will now be piloting Mazinger Z instead of playing a support role like he did in the original Grendizer).

You can bet that I will be covering this series, especially if it's picked up by Crunchyroll this coming summer.

Looking Beyond Grendizer U & 2024: Live-action Gundam, Hathaway Parts 2 & 3, Gunbuster 3, and Patlabor EZY

Going beyond 2024, there are also other series that are set to be released some time in this decade. 2016 saw the release of the Patlabor Reboot promo, which is supposedly a test run for a new Patlabor series: Patlabor EZY. Supposedly set to air sometime in 2026 (at least last I saw), I'm as excited about this as Isao Ohta is about any type of gun that comes across his path.

Studio Gaina (again, not to be confused with the now-closed Gainax) also has plans to release Gunbuster 3, though that will probably be on the shelves for now until Grendizer U wraps up.

And of course, Gundam still has two more parts of the Hathaway movies to work on. There's also a live-action Gundam series that is also in the works at Legendary.

Conclusion

And that's a wrap, folks. Finally, after ten whole posts, I've covered an incomplete history of mecha! Yes that's right! Incomplete! Why did you think it was called abbreviated?

Jokes aside, I thought this would be a relatively simple project. Just cover a handful of mecha shows from the decades since their inception, say a thing or two about them, and move on. It turns out that, even when I cherry-picked the shows to talk about, there were still a lot of them.

Do I regret doing it, though? No. Well, maybe that bit about Valvrave specifically. Outside of that, I think it is important that this series of posts still exist. I tried my best to be as impartial as possible, and hopefully you, dear reader, have caught that. I really don't want this project to turn out to be identical in tone to Professor Otaku's Complete History of Mecha video series. Man literally cannot hide his disdain for shows he doesn't like very well, and I think it does a massive disservice to both his series and himself.

What I want you to take away from this series of posts is: every show I covered on here is someone's favorite. I've seen at least one person go to bat for every series I named here. I've done it for G Gundam and Patlabor, and I plan on doing it for a couple more series on here. The real important thing here is that this post helps in dismissing that wrong-headed claim of "mecha shows are just about the robots and not the characters." Which is a thing I will talk about soon.

But not right now. Now I want to rest. And by rest, I mean throwing my wrist out while playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

God Groose is such a great character.

[swissboyhisch]

The Aussie Snack Experience

Pairing: Nico Hischier x Aussie!Reader

Summary: As a marketing idea, you get to feature in a video with Nico trying snacks from your home country.

Word Count: 1637

Warnings: Alcohol. A little bit of an AU as Devs and Rangers aren't apart of the global series.

A/N: Another to the Nico x Aussie!Reader series

THE MASTERLIST JOIN THE TAGLIST HOCKEY DISCORD

You had been missing home a little and asked your family to send a box of Australian snacks and drinks. Unsurprisingly, your parents sent you multiple huge boxes, much bigger than you had ever expected. Lollies, biscuits, chocolate. Soft drink, alcohol, milo. So many things from your childhood. Luckily you had a whole team of hockey players you could share with. 

When the news had gotten to Anna in the Media department about your delivery, she asked you if you were willing to do a video with Nico. Apparently the idea of Nico trying Australian snacks and drinks was a good marketing idea. Especially since New Jersey was one of the teams just announced as a part of the Global pre-season games in Melbourne.

For once, you accompanied Nico to the arena one this day with your boxes of Australian stuff in the back of the car. Jack had picked you both up. Meaning he got roped into help carrying the boxes into the room where Anna had set up the video production. You two were setting up while the boys had morning skate. 

“Did your parents actually send you all this?” Anna questioned as she unpacked the drinks box.

You hummed as you pulled out the little bags of different flavours of Shapes. So many things. “Yeah, I was feeling a little homesick. Missing some snacks.”

“And even alcohol?”

“Yep!” You respond as Anna holds up a four pack of cruisers. “Those are my favourite. They sent me a heap of them thankfully.”

As training neared the end, you prepared the fairy bread. The slices of white bread slathered with butter and the Hundreds & Thousands on top. The perfect kids party food. Anna had set up a table of food off camera. As you and Nico would sit in frame, Anna would bring one plate of food or a drink for us to try. Well Nico to try.

“Heya babe,” Nico hummed, coming to join you on the couch. His hair was wet from his shower. All shaggy just like you liked it. 

“Hey sexy.”

A flush coloured his cheeks at the comment. Nico pressed a kiss to your cheek as the media crew set up the equipment. Majority of it was done, just final touches before you all started the shoot. Nico was going to start off the video with a little welcome.

“Hi, my name Nico Hischier and I’m here with my Australian girlfriend (Y/N),” Nico starts off. “As preparation for the Global series in Melbourne, (Y/N) has brought in a heap of Australian snacks for me to try. Some I may have already had, some I haven’t.”

“I tried to make it so it’s mostly the ones you have,” You add.

Nico waved over to Anna, “Anna is going to bring in the snacks for us.”

“Snack one!”

Anna brought over a plate of Tim Tams, just the plain ones. You got excited at the sight. Since receiving the box, you haven’t actually eaten anything so you couldn’t wait.

“I’ve had these!” Nico exclaimed happily, immediately grabbing one and takinging a bite.

You follow his actions, taking a bite from the biscuit and savouring the taste. “Do you remember what they’re called?”

“Uhhh, Tim Tams yeah?” You clap happily, giving him a smooch on the cheek as a reward. He laughs, “Is that my reward, a kiss for every right guess on what they’re called?”

“That wasn’t a part of the plan but I guess we could fit that in.”

The next thing was a glass of milk which confused Nico. Anna put two glasses down before the pair of you. You knew exactly what it was for and it was something you haven’t done since you were a child.

“Uh…”

You laughed, “Time of a Tim Tam Slam.”

“You’ve never told me about this,” Nico argues.

Without telling him anything, you grab another biscuit and bite the two opposite corners. You dunk it a little in the lactose-free milk and suck like it’s a straw. Nico just watched on, confused as hell. 

“It makes it taste like chocolate milk,” You reveal, nodding for Nico to try his own. 

You watched as the Swiss tentatively bit off the corners and sucked up the milk. His eyes widened when he tasted the milk. 

“That tastes really good,” He comments.

You nod in agreement, “Now bite the Tim Tam.”

To you, the best part of the Tim Tam Slam was eating the biscuit after. The mushy biscuit. Sounds gross but it was so good. Anna brings out the next snack which is fairy bread.

“Is this the fairy bread?” Nico asks, examining the plate.

“The best party food of all time.”

“Isn’t a children’s party food?” 

You scoff, “I had this at my 18th birthday party thank you very much.”

Nico was tentative when he picked up a slice of bread. Spilling the Hundreds & Thousands over his lap. You giggled, taking your own piece and taking a bite. It took you back to your birthday where you and your best friend just ate the whole plate while drinking cruisers and cob loaf.

“Can we have a drink to wash this down?” You ask, smirking at Anna.

That was the code word you had sorted out earlier for Anna to bring out two of the cruisers. Both of them are your favourite flavour, Zesty Lemon & Lime. Nico saw them before they made it into frame. He lit up, having had Cruisers before as you loved drinking them when you went home for the off season. 

Nico immediately grabbed one, as did you, and clinked glasses. He took a sip happily. “These are Vodka Cruisers.”

“Like White Claws but better,” You add, taking another swig. 

“Lemon and Lime is probably the best flavour,” Nico comments.

You grin, “You take after me.”

Nico grabbed your legs, lifting them to rest them over his lap. You two made yourselves comfy which Anna loved. The fans were going to eat this up. Nico liked to keep you hidden, to himself. But this was a gold mine of content. 

“Do you have any Shapes on that table?” Nico asks, peering over behind the camera. 

At the request, Anna brings over multiple little bags of all the flavours of Shapes. Nico immediately went for the Pizza flavour. It was your favourite too. Then the door opened revealing Jack Hughes and Dawson Mercer.

“Snacks?” The youngest asked, heading straight for the table.

Anna suspected this would happen at some point. The team couldn’t help themselves but annoy whoever was on media duty. “If you want snacks, go sit with (Y/N) and Nico in front of the camera and introduce yourselves.”

Both of the boys excitedly sat in front of the couch like little kids. Your hand came to pat Jack’s head while Nico flicked the back of Mercer’s head.

“Seriously you two?” Nico huffed. 

“Leave them,” You laugh, nodding to Anna to bring out more snacks.

“Hi! My name is Jack Hughes and this is Dawson Mercer. We’re joining our parents to try Australian snacks from Mum’s home country.”

Dawson nodded, “What he said.”

The next to be brought out to the table was a bowl of favourites. Jack grabbed the Crunchy, Dawson grabbed a Flake, Nico went for a Boost and you grabbed a Picnic. Jack opened his, making the flakes of chocolate land all over his lap. Dawson just pissed himself laughing at his friend.

“They’re your favourite, yeah?” Nico asked, nodding to the chocolate in your hand. Trying to ignore the children in front of you two.

You nod, taking a bite. “Behind Chomps.”

“Chomp?” Jack questions.

At those words, Anna threw a couple bars of Chomp at you guys. You and Nico both caught yours but watching Jack and Dawson getting hit in the head cracked the you guys up. Jack looked like a deer in the headlights when he felt the bump before it landed in his lap. You didn’t waste any time though. Tearing into the bar and biting at the crunchy, caramel, wafer and chocolate treat. 

“Yo these are great,” Jack stated, chewing still.

You slap him up the back of his head, “Eat with your mouth closed Jackson!”

“My name isn’t Jackson,” he argued.

“Don’t argue with Mum.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “Love that we just suddenly have kids.”

You just picked up your cruiser again and skulled it. It’s better to deal with these two when drunk. Anna finally stopped laughing long enough to bring out lamingtons. Jack didn’t bother waiting, going immediately for the food. 

“What’s this?” Dawson asked you. 

You take one and offer it to Nico. He smiled, taking a bite of the dessert then pressing a little kiss to your lips. You hum at the taste coating your lips. 

“A chocolate lamington,” Nico answers for you.

In response to his words, you press a kiss to his cheek once more. “Neeks is right.”

“You guys want to wrap it up?” Anna suggests to you. 

Jack and Dawson weren’t even paying attention anymore, Just grabbing at the different snacks on the table. Luckily Jack was driving you and Nico as you both had drunk a couple cruisers through the duration of the filming. It wasn’t a game day which was why he was allowed to drink. 

You decided to do the outro as the two younger boys didn’t give a shit about the video. Nico was being clingy, holding you to him. “Thanks for watching me feed the boys Australian snacks. Make sure you guys come see the boys play against the Rangers in Melbourne on the 23rd and 24th of September. You may even catch a glimpse of me somewhere in the stadium. Peace out.”

“Bye!” The boys shout, waving at the camera. “See you in Australia!”

TAGLIST:

@findapenny @mp0625 @hischierhaze @11zegras @lvrzegras @francesfarhadi @cixrosie @daisysthings @jayrami3

[shubblelive]

— [ TENSE +2 ] UNWANTED PROPOSAL

summary : (from marriage proposal) timing is everything.

genre : fluff

warnings : talks of marriage (again, mostly silly), like 2 swear words

pairing : cc!wilbur soot x cc!reader

pronouns : none (you/yours), i think 1 or 2 uses of "them"

featuring : cc!wilbur soot

word count : 1.4k

note : i am back!!! i have so many will drafts that i am slowly but surely getting them out. i started college since i last came on, so i have wayyy less time and energy but i am doing my best i promise.

You met Wilbur because of a bit.

No one thought you’d like each other when you first met, with Wilbur first discovering your channel while he was streaming. You were a lot softer than him, from your voice - preferring to bring your mic closer to your face rather than yelling. You played video games, sure, but you liked games that you could just play by yourself without much stress. You were big on crochet and painting, and Wilbur was taken with you almost immediately. 

You, however, were harder to convince. “Who is Wilbur and why is he bullying Ruby?” You gestured behind you to where there was a small anteater figurine on the shelf. She was given to you by one of your fans, painted specifically for you and you’d named it after the girl who gave it to. 

From then on, you would go back and forth, each picking on a small thing that the other did. This went on for a few weeks before it suddenly stopped. Your viewers were disappointed, but they assumed the bit had finished, and you guys would go back to pretending the other person didn’t exist. 

You did the opposite, much to everyone’s delight. You flew out to see each other every few months, streaming for hours with Wilbur’s head resting on yours, your hands fiddling with each others under the frame of the camera. But it was the times that you weren’t streaming that you loved the most. 

Waking up with Wilbur’s face inches from yours, him coming to stand between your legs while you sat on the kitchen bench, head resting on his shoulder. His hand under your jaw as you beamed up at him, smile so bright he could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage so hard he was convinced you could feel it. Spending what felt like centuries memorising the shape of his face.

It was years of friendship captured online, with all the love and tenderness obvious to anyone who saw. It didn’t show the whole story, didn’t show the kisses pressed to your cheeks in dark rooms. Didn’t show the tears when he left you for another four months. 

Everyone on the internet could see Wilbur loved you, but you were the only person who knew just how much. At least he thought so. 

It was one of Wilbur’s extended stays at your flat, and you had an early morning stream planned; an important one. Wilbur had woken up late, and went to go check on you. He wouldn’t go in - he was still in his pyjamas and people didn’t need to see him half awake and full-hearted. 

He was just intending on standing right outside the door and listening for a few minutes before he’d go entertain himself while you worked. You were playing the Sims after having just announced new merch and a new project you’d been working on, and Wilbur found himself biting back a smile.

“I’m really struggling, chat.” Your tone was light, but when was it not? Why hadn’t you said anything? “Now, I know we like to keep things nice and cosy here, but maybe one of you can help me.”

Wilbur frowned, knowing he’d have to bring it up with you later. You were struggling? And you felt more comfortable sharing it with the entire internet rather than with him? “So, chat. We all know Wilbur, right? We know Will, we love Will. Now, I think I love Will more than anyone else, and I thought he loved me.” You huffed. 

What were you talking about? Of course he loved you. Had he not been showing it enough recently? He pulled out his phone and immediately went to look at your calendar. The two of you had combined work calendars years ago, so even if you weren’t in the same place you knew what the other had going on. It was your idea, but Wilbur was immensely grateful in that moment. You had another thing early tomorrow so you wouldn’t want to be out too late. You had to go out immediately after the stream, but you’d be back by lunch. That was more than enough time for him to set something up. “I have been trying my hardest, chat. I want to marry Wilbur and he just refuses.” He almost dropped his phone, his heart leaping into his throat. You wanted marriage? It was one of those things, where if you wanted it he’d more than willingly give it to you. But marriage was something Wilbur thought you didn’t want. 

Okay, he could do this. Maybe not before lunch, but he could do it. He’d just need a ring, and all the other fancy shit that people did. What should you buy your partner before you propose? Candles? You weren’t big on the smell.

Maybe he could make dinner, though you preferred not cooking when he was there, hating washing up even more. He would figure it out. He knew you better than anyone else, he would make this the best proposal ever. 

Sim-Wilbur was not co-operating. You had spun a wheel at the beginning of your sim’s life to find out who their love interest would be and your real life boyfriend was the lucky person. 

You had tried your best to get your sim to propose to Wilbur but he kept rejecting them no matter how high your relationship was. You ended up deciding to play something less frustrating until the end of the stream. After, you emerged and found Wilbur on the couch, typing furiously. “You alright, Will?”

“Of course, love,” he barely looked up. “You off?”

You nodded, but he didn’t even look. “Yeah, I’ll be back around eleven-thirty. Want me to bring lunch?”

“Sure.” He looked up for long enough to kiss you quickly. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll be more present when you get back I promise, just work stuff.”

“Okay,” you felt a bit silly, even trying to talk to him when he was clearly distracted. “I love you.”

At least he made sure to say it back before you left. You shook off your weird feeling, and went to your meeting. You had a bag of food in one hand, struggling to hold onto it while you unlocked your door. “Will? Can you come help me please?”

You managed to get the door closed, and when you spun around you were met with your boyfriend. On one knee, with a ring.

You dropped the bag. 

“What?” you couldn’t think of much else to say besides that. “What?”

“Darling.” He had practised twelve times, absolutely determined not to show you how rushed this was. He’d re-propose later, of course, something much more extravagant. Or less, if that’s what you wanted. He didn’t know what you wanted, this was something he hadn’t even considered in this phase of his life. Not that he wouldn’t do it, he’d do anything for you. “We’ve been together for a while now, but even if we hadn’t I’d still know that I don’t want to love anyone the way I love you. I don’t even think I’ll be able to if we split up. I know sometimes I’m shit at showing it, and I’m sorry if you were putting out signs and I was ignoring them. But I promise, I love you more than I can even say. So, after all that…” he took a breath. “Will you-”

“I don’t want to get married!” You blurted. 

He faltered. “You don’t?”

“No,” you spluttered. “I thought we talked about this! I told you I was happy with how we were, and I thought you were too. It’s nothing to do with you. I’m just not a marriage type of person, at least not right now.”

“But you said-” He wobbled as he stood up, dusting himself off. “You said you were trying to marry me but I was being stubborn or something.”

You shouldn’t have laughed, but you couldn’t quite help yourself. “Video game, darling,” you said softly.

God, he was an idiot. “God, I’m an idiot.”

“No you’re not.” 

“You’re still laughing at me!”

You pulled him closer to you, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I love you, Wilbur. But the answer is no, I will not marry you.” He started laughing as well, and he kissed you back; open mouthed and giddy. “Your chips are on the floor.”

“Doesn’t matter,” his hands found yours, squeezing gently. “I can eat chips whenever. You only don’t get engaged once.”

“If you’re lucky.” You said, not able to wipe the smile from your face despite the fact that literally nothing happened.

“Trust me, I’m so lucky.” 

[satoshi-mochida]

Maid Cafe on Electric Street coming to consoles - Gematsu

“Console versions” of Maid Cafe on Electric Street are in development, publisher PLAYISM and developer Adventurer’s Tavern announced. Specific platforms were not announced.

The adventure game was previously announced as launching for PC via Steam this summer—but that window has passed and new release timing has yet to be confirmed by PLAYISM.

The PC version of Maid Cafe on Electric Street will be playable at the Konami booth at Tokyo Game Show 2024, which will run from September 26 to 29 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

Maid Cafe on Electric Street is a leisurely maid cafe adventure set in the otaku haven of Nipponbashi, Osaka The protagonist of our story quits his job at an extremely toxic workplace and finds himself at a run-down maid cafe tucked away in a quiet part of Nipponbashi. There, he meets the maid Shiro. One thing leads to another, and he eventually gets appointed as the temporary cafe manager and put in charge of the management of the maid cafe. As the new manager, his first task is to scout cute girls to work at the cafe. Time to explore Nipponbashi and all the otaku stuff it has to offer!

Get to know the four unique main girls: Shiro, Miyu, Favna, and Honoka, all voiced.

Immerse yourself in lighthearted stories about everyday life with the cute maids.

Enjoy the modern and gorgeous pixel art graphics depicting even the finest details, including the meat buns next to the convenience store cashier and the figures on the shelves of an anime shop.

Go on fun dates at Nipponbashi, from anime shops to arcades to the cinema!

The Four Main Girls of Fuwa Fuwa

Shiro – “Um, please be the new manager of the cafe!” A maid who loves Fuwa Fuwa Cafe. A huge otaku for anime and video games, she talks really fast when she’s gushing about the things she loves, and often splurges on merch without thinking whenever she visits an anime shop. A little clumsy, but works hard every day to become the cute maid she’s always wanted to be.

Miyu – “Hey Mr. Manager, thanks a bunch for hanging out with me today~☆” A game otaku and gyaru with a big appetite. Loves both eating and cooking, and apparently really enjoys serving her cooking to customers at Fuwa Fuwa Cafe. Is actually Shiro’s friend on the online game Magic Angel, so they knew each other before actually meeting in real life.

Favna – “I am the Slayer of the False God, the Queen of the Kingdom of Darkness, the All-Seeing Oracle, the Guardian of the Dream of All Things—“ A mysterious girl dressed in gothic Lolita fashion. Speaks in riddles and demands the protagonist become her familiar. She sometimes accidentally drops the edgy act when she’s taken by surprise though, so maybe she’s just got a serious case of chuunibyou…?

Honoka – “Ya want a thrivin’ business? That there sounds like a job for our shrine!” A girl with a Kansaiben dialect who works as a shrine maiden at her family shrine. Practically in charge of the shrine, she is reliable and very good at handling money, and has a strong sense of responsibility to boot. On top of that, she’s also the only glasses girl at Fuwa Fuwa Cafe!

Support Your Maid Cafe Employees as the Manager

As the cafe manager, it’s your job to allocate work to your maids. Make sure to give the right girl the right job! For example, Shiro is always enthusiastic to serve customers, and Miyu is great in the kitchen. Of course, you can’t just sit there while they work. During opening hours, you’ll also have to make coffee and help out on the floor, so it’s not as easy as it sounds!

The Stunning Sights of Nipponbashi

In order to recreate the atmosphere of the real Nipponbashi, the game features several real stores you can find there, such as Surugaya, Sofmap, Dragon Star, Super Potato, and Karaoke Rainbow, among many others. Don’t forget to pay them a visit when you’re shopping or taking one of your maids on a date!

Collectable Capsule Toys

If you’ve been to the real Nipponbashi, you’ll know that there are capsule toy machines all over the area. In this game, you can also try your hand at collecting your favorite capsule toy series and experience that unique gacha thrill of not knowing what you’re getting. As you collect more toys, you can even bring them up in conversations with the girls. Keep cranking those machines until you’ve collected them all!

[thefringespod]

Finally got smart enough to make my #AudioDramaSunday list ahead of time so I wouldn't forget anything for once! We're gonna start today with the newest Magus Protocol episode which was phenomenal. Cole Weavers wrote this one and I just adore his writing. Also: Augustus is here 👀

Early access for the newest ep of @souloperatorpod was this week and y'all have a TREAT waiting for you tomorrow. Tot continues to astound me with her many talents and we also get to meet a new character who I'm already in love with

@tellnotalespod has brought us back to Julia and Riley who are overworking themselves (especially Riley. Let them sleep.) I love getting to hear from them in these mini eps but they DO make me want to shake Leo even harder Leo please talk to your friends please

@camlannpod episode 2 released this week and my gods it was so much fun. A blend of deep and emotional scenes and comedy (I'm still thinking about "The CW lied to me") I love every character with my whole heart and have been loving all the theories on tumblr about the show

New @innbetween was so sweet I love hearing the Lowlifes become actual friends. Phoebe thinking that everyone wanted her to leave squeezed my heart so hard and everyone insisting she stay because she was the one that they wanted for the quest??? Just so so good

@somewhereohio has once again knocked me flat with this episode. The worldbuilding around Jasmine and what's going on with her memories is incredible! I am an Orange Splice stan 1st and person 2nd. Also the Nadia/Alex scene breaks my heart because I know how they end 😭.

New Technomancy Project was SO GOOD!! And I was FUCKING RIGHT!!! I said this before but I love having all of them play Belial's game this time around and I don't think there's a single EPO agent who didn't make me cry this ep. The Technomancy Project continues to kick ass

Caught up on last weeks @thesiltverses and gods it fucked me up (affectionate) B Narr does such a fantastic job with Faulkner. I love him. I hate him. I want him to get whats coming to him & I want to protect him from it at the same time. B's performance knocks me flat every time

There was another special episode of @wakeofcorrosion this week featuring the Fringes' very own @totcoc0a and @taytayheyhey! I will never forgive them for what they did to my heart <3 Shaun Pellington wrote a killer script and deserves none of the blame even if it did break me

Continuing to make my way through the Storage Papers this week and episodes 13-19 were VERY good. I said "Nope, don't like that" out loud multiple times while listening to 19 which is the exact reaction you want from a horror pod.

This isn't a new episode listen but @wpwcpod has announced their existence and cast and im SO FUCKING EXCITED!! Not only do I love CL Hendry's writing but it will also feature the Fringes' very own Ollie Bannerman and @chainofbeing Cai Gwilym Pritchard I'm so hyped

Also not a new episode listen but Athan (creator of The Grotto) has announced that his album is coming out on March 29! If you've listened to The Grotto then you know Athan writes killer music. And if you dont listen to the Grotto: DO IT GO LISTEN RIGHT NOW ITS SO GOOD

Here on the Fringes we're preparing for the second half of the season! Episode 19 is available RIGHT NOW at patreon.com/PineTreePods and will be available to the public this Wednesday! Also gearing up to finish the last 3 episodes of season 3 which I'm super excited for

And over on @forgedbondspod the first half of the show is written! The cast has been thrown into a discord and has access to scripts now which is super exciting, I can't wait for yall to hear what's going to come from the first 24 eps

And that's all for this week! It's a long audiodrama Sunday post but there's just. So much good stuff going on. Every day I'm so grateful to exist in this audiodrama space and to share my work with yall <3

[catonamatchbox]

OKOKOK IM GONNA OVERANALYZE THE STICKER SHEETS FROM THE NEW ENA FANGAMER MERCH!!!!

Starting off with some sillies we got all the guys we know! Combo from past ena and from the trailer. The appearance of Phindoll and Hourglass Dog (and volley and Merci in the other sticker sheets) made me think they’ll be having a return in dream bbq but I’m not sure. I originally thought they were only here because they didn’t have any stickers of them, but they do. So I’m not sure! Ok next!!!

One new silly spotted here! Everyone else we know. The little pink guy in the bottom left is new!! They seem to be a bug collector. They’re holding a net and a cricket cage!

Now from what I’ve gathered it’s actually not uncommon for people in Japan to keep bugs as pets!! So this little guy hunting for some doesn’t seem out of bounds. Their hat or hair or whatever also makes me think of a crickets face! And obviously they have many eyes like some bugs. And they do have a very Japanese aesthetic, with their outfit.

Next I wanna talk about Merci! Now I originally thought, that with this new outfit, she’d be making a return in dream bbq but sadly I don’t think this is the case. The outfit she’s wearing is actually from a drawing by Chobi, the person who voices her!

So I think this is simply just a callback, and sadly not a new appearance in the game. But we never know!!

Ok last sticker sheet! This one features loads of new characters! There’s an gun with an anime girls head which is super duper funny. The one on the bottom left looks like an animal crossing villager they’re so adorable 🥺🥺 and then next to them is another silly guy BUUUTT

I Wanna focus on this guy down here!! Now I’m not 100% certain but their look very similiar to a critter that appeared in the dream bbq teaser trailer game announcement from a year ago. They both seem to have very similiar body structures, big heads and open mouths. Also, in the trailer, since we’re seeing it from head on you can note it’s lack of front or back arms or whatever, just like the guy in the sheet! Only two legs, and that seems to match up pretty well with the trailer critter. There are some differences however. The one in the sticker sheet has a black head, whilst the one in the trailer has a tan head. I think this is one of two reasons

A. The game announcement trailer was made a while ago and things change during the development of games! Not everything we see in the trailer made from a year ago is gonna be the same as it is in the game

Or B. This is a species of critter in the game, and these are two different variants

I personally think A. Is the more logical reason but I would not be opposed to seeing multiple of this silly guy!!!

[rotomblr-island]

I’ve never played Tomodatchi life and I haven’t seen a playthrough that shows what happens after marriage so. How do the babies work. Do you make a whole new mii?

So, i'm about to explain way more than i need to. enjoy?

So when two miis are married, eventually one of them might get a love bubble. When you talk to them, they'll say that they and their spouse are thinking of having a baby. You can tell them they should or they shouldn't.

If you tell them they should, three days later you'll get a phone call. You'll then be transported to the couple's house, where the two kf them will be standing and one of them will holding a baby who's facing away from you. They'll announce that they had a baby and ask you if you're hoping they had a boy or a girl. You can reply with "Boy," "Girl," or "Either is great!" Replying with boy or girl will always cause the baby to be a boy or a girl, while saying either will have the game choose randomly.

When the parent says "It's a boy!" or "It's a girl!" The baby will turn around and their face will be revealed. It will be randomly generated based on their parents' faces. The parents will say, "How do they look?" To which you can say "So cute!" or "Hmm..."

If you say "So cute!" They'll move on to the next question. If you say "Hmm..." it will take you to the mii editor, where you can change their face and hair as you please. If you leave their appearance as is, it will change slightly as the child grows, and their hair will grow. If you change their appearance, it will stay exactly that way until they're an adult.

After that, the parents will tell you they were thinking of naming the baby... some random name from the game's list of baby names. You can tell them that's a good name which will take you to the next question, tell them to pick something else which will cause them to suggest another random name, or say "Hmm..." which will let you input a name yourself.

After choosing a name, the parents ask you what kind of personality you think they'll have. You can say "Just like mom," "Just like dad," "Who knows?" Or "Hmm..." You can probably guess what those options do.

After that is the end of the Birth. Over the next few days, you can watch the baby grow from infant to toddler to kid. When they're an infant or toddler, the parents will occasionally call you, asking you to help them get the baby to stop crying. If you agree to help them you can play a kind of tedious minigame. There's also a little minigame for the kid stage, but the parents won't call to ask you to do it.

After a few days (I don't remember how many, i think it's like 4 or 5 but it might be more,) You'll get a phone call and be transported to the house again, where the parents will announce that the baby is all grown up. You can choose to either have the baby move into their own apartment, making them a normal islander, or to travel the world, making them a traveler who goes to other people's islands through streetpass, and can never become islanders. Travelers are supposed to be able to occasionally come home to visit via spotpass, but i don't think that feature works anymore now that the 3DS online servers have been shut down.

Regardless of what you choose, you can choose to make any edits to the child's appearance, profile, voice, and personality you want, and then you get a nice little photo album slideshow of the baby's childhood while the game's credits roll.

[hellfireconfessions]

Hey there, is Guri here. You may know me from years or unfortunately for all the drama before HF shutdown. All this situation is getting a lot put of hand for me, and I wanted to reach out here in order to explain what happened on my side ( if anything is worder incorrectly, please let me know, English is not my first language.)

Ok, so... About the doc. Some people may have read it already, and may not know what it means because the wording wasn't the better but I'll give some context. It was a story from a villain character POV on their abussive relationship with other character, both of the characters are from my creation. "Did the doc contained grooming?" No, both characters are adults. The villain character met the other character once when it was small and then didn't met each other after the other one was adult. "Did the doc had sexual content?" No, the "love bites" were a trait I gave to my characters subspecies, but since the character in question was a villain, the bites used to happen a lot more than usual. "Did the doc had zoophilia?" no, both characters are animals. "Did the doc had non-con/rape?" No, all the doc is basically the villain saying that they love biting the second character and that they love the taste of the blood. "What does the [ But she had a body I can't recall her to have] then?" the original concept of the character was a normal bipedal Utahraptor with some feathers, later was revamped to a quadrupedal more "cat-like" creature. That line meant that the character used to remember the other as s feathered normal Utahraptor, and now that they are adults, seeing her as a completely new creature with different features is weird. "What does [ swollen womb] means?" pregnancy, thought it would be another way to say it. The doc had a trigger warning on the very top and was censored entirely, to ensure the safety of sensitive readers. But many people ignored it.

I haven't groomed anyone, I'm not a pedophile, I'm not a zoophile. My characters does not define me, I'm sorry if anyone has felt uncomfortable with the doc. I truly thought that putting a warning and censoring it would be fine. The server in which was posted was a +17 server, which a few 16 years old members. No one has reached to me about the docs until noodles did on a report ticket, I got a final warning and got my pack rep removed and accepted the punishment. But aside from that, I haven't done anything. I would like to ask for the harassment and lies about me to stop, saying that im a pedophile, zoophile, that i promote incest, rape and other horrible things is not true, even I heard that some people were saying that they had proof of me grooming people and that there was a supposed victim. Of course, when you asked for the evidence, none was provided aside from the doc.

I been banned from server which I haven't played on, all for a doc that staff decided it was not banneable. Getting into my personal space and insulting my family is also not ok, while I won't blame the entire dentem et pluma pack even if the comments they made about me were horrible and I had never talked about them that way, one thing is insulting me as a player, other different is including my husband as Snail did. I make this announcement as an attempt for people to also see my side of things, that I am sorry for how everything took place and that even if horrible things were said towards me, I mean no ill intentions towards my aggressors that as long you didn't insulted my family. Guys, this is a dinosaur game, it's totally ok to not be friends with everyone but what is not ok is harassing, insulting and getting in the personal life of someone over a dino game. Stop the doxxing too, stop judging the private lives of members. If anyone would like to talk about what happened and have a fresh start/make amends. My DMs are always open.

normally i wouldnt approve but i dont know the exact details of what happened so ill let yall go at it

[blaiddllodi]

A glimpse of azure made him stop in his tracks. “Dimitri- there you are. I spent quite some time searching for you!” Thankfully the new clothes and equipment the Church had offered him made him more presentable- or so he hoped. Lambert wasn’t one to worry endlessly over fashion, but he had begun to feel rather self-aware. “Your friends are most likely waiting for you on your big day and I do not plan on holding you for too long…” 

…but, he wanted to. He was his only son, and this was the first time in five years that he got to live through another one of his birthdays. There was so much he wanted to say, all while no words sat in his mouth- it was a bit frustrating, if anything. 

It took him a short while to finally put together a sentence, breaking the silence with a short sigh. “I do remember back then, how small and timid you were…painfully adorable.” A small, fond smile. Still adorable, in his eyes at least. “You have grown a lot, since then. A sharp and respectable young man…who I am sure Faerghus will be the most proud of, once you rise as her king.” He took a step closer, placing a hand on Dimitri’s shoulder.

Another brief pause, icy irises searching- trying to process what to say, how to say it, settling with a frown. Those words had been fairly standard, if anything perhaps bland. Dimitri probably heard them countless times by now, and them painted in Lambert’s voice wouldn’t exactly make any difference in his heart, he figured.

Lambert scoffed to himself. “Why am I making this so difficult for myself, talking to my own son on his birthday like I am reading from a script…” Shaking his head, his features eventually settled with an easy smile. One that wasn’t rehearsed or plastered, a callback to almost half a decade before to a man not yet taken by death towards a boy not yet plagued by it. Fond, warm, familiar. “I am…not sure how to make up for all those birthdays that I missed, or even if I can do such thing. But now I can safely say I will be around for many more to come. I could not watch you grow from a lanky little boy into the proper young man standing before me…but I can at least watch you as you fully mature into an adult, now. This alone makes me happy.”

His eyes stung just a little bit, but Lambert wasn’t having it. He’d keep his composure sturdy, at least for now. Ensuring there were no prying eyes, Lambert finally wrapped his arms around the prince in a hug, cradling the back of his head gently. This was no Abyss, so their time together had to be brief much to the professor’s dismay. 

They had all the time in the world now.

Letting go of Dimitri, he then slipped a piece of paper into his hands with a grin, as well as a bundled package. “And these- are your gifts from me. I...originally, wished to give you the ring I got when I was first knighted, in my youth…but alas, I no longer have it in my possession. And I highly doubt anything I give you right now will be truly of use...”

The paper was an announcement for an upcoming game of joust, with two tickets clipped to it. As for the package, it was a standard dagger, the blade reinforced and engraved with the crest of Blaiddyd, though very obviously it hadn’t been done by any masterful blacksmith. Lambert did it himself.

“I can however, gift you my time and company. How about we watch it together? Even though I most likely will have to don my squire costume, but that is no issue.” Just a fun afternoon- no titles or obligations, simply time spent between father and son. “As for the dagger…well. Solid proof, that I am here to stay. And be there with you through your journey again.”

“Happy Birthday, Mitya. I love you, my boy. And always will.”

There was a certain rhythm that Dimitri had become used to, over the years, with regard to the date of his birth. There were many holidays that needed to be observed, some spiritual in nature, and some political, more for optics than for any hard-fought emotions - but in stark contrast to all of these was his birthday, and in the previous years this routine had wavered from the childhood he remembered.

It was difficult to discern whether or not this was part of growing up, but he continued to be told what a fine man he was becoming, and so had to believe that this was so.

Reasonable, then, that he could not have imagined anything from those golden halcyon days to return to him, and yet he saw the approach of Lambert in the high winter sun and he needed to blink to recognize that the visage was of the living, breathing man and not the shimmering ghost whose disappointment borne all the weight on his shoulders.

"Fa- Professor. You look well." The mild phrasing could not have belied the happiness in his tone, for there was a relief Dimitri felt at being able to say those words that he hadn't necessarily understood until he said them. When was the last time he'd even thought that there was a state of well or unwell for his father to fluctuate from?

Lambert, too, seemed to understand the strangeness of their situation, brick by brick as he spoke before it seemed to weigh him down with the anxiousness, the uncertainty.

The embrace was a shock, but one that Dimitri relished - he blinked, only the once, before he wrapped his arms around the broad form of his father, feeling the prick of warmth in his eyes, which he pressed away discreetly with his knuckles at the separation.

If someone had told him that this was his gift, it would have been sufficient, for this year and all that followed.

But there was more, not merely the activity of the joust, but of the knife - the tradition steeped into both gifts, the meaning and the symbolism heavy even within these simple tokens - and Dimitri found himself nodding along to every word that Lambert spoke.

"Ah! I - I would like that very much. I...I don't have anything happening at this time that cannot be rearranged it - " He paused, inhaled, feeling that very warm sensation behind his eyes again before he laughed.

"I cannot think of anything that I would like more."

[archoneddzs15]

Super Famicom - Rockman X2 (Mega Man X2)

Title: Rockman X2 / ロックマンX2

Developer/Publisher: Capcom

Release date: 16 December 1994

Catalogue Code: SHVC-ARXJ-JPN

Genre: Run-N-Gun Platform Action

No. of Players: 1

So, we all knew it was inevitable. With Rockman X's huge success and Capcom's love of proliferating sequels, Rockman X2 was a game that pretty much anyone in the 90s could have seen coming. So, it came as no surprise when Capcom finally announced the sequel was in production and would be released one year after the release of Rockman X. Utilizing a brand-new add-on chip (the Capcom Cx4) that could create 3D wireframe graphics, a plethora of new weapons and a brand-new storyline, Capcom finally released this game to fans everywhere. But how does it stand against one of the best SFC games of all time? Did it improve on an already amazing game, or does it suffer from unnecessary sequel syndrome? Read on.

As stated before, Capcom included a brand-new add-on chip that was capable of creating basic 3D objects, and were told to use it as much as possible. This chip is dubbed the Capcom Cx4. While the graphics are pretty much X's graphics with some tweaks, this is certainly not a bad thing as X had some very amazing graphics for the SFC and the new chip only enhances it. The 3D effect is done well and doesn't feel tacked on like many late SFC games, which simply had it included because 3D was new and cool at the time. Just like Rockman X, as you pick up new weapons and armor, X's sprite changes to reflect the new addition. However, unlike the first X game, the armor upgrades are much more noticeable on the sprite, and by the time you collect all four, X will look much different than when he first started. All in all, these graphics are some of the best that you'll find on the SFC.

X2 continues the darker storyline and though X's storyline was pretty straightforward from the get-go, X2's is full of twists and turns that will keep you enticed. While I won't mention any of the twists, the basic storyline takes place six months after the first X game ends. Having defeated Sigma and supposedly stopped the Maverick's genocide against humans, X returns to his former role as a Maverick Hunter and eventually becomes the leader of the group. However, he's surprised to find out that the Mavericks are still going strong and attempts to hunt them down. However, three powerful Mavericks calling themselves the "X-Hunters" rally a group of Mavericks against him and soon X finds himself fighting eight new robot masters. However, as I mentioned, the story has a few twists and turns that make it a whole lot better, and unlike X, there are actually two different storylines depending on your actions within the game. Because of this, I personally enjoyed Rockman X2's storyline much better than X1's (but X1's was still really cool, if not a bit predictable).

You'll know exactly what to expect from X2. If not, let me explain. Pretty much every game in the classic Rockman series as well as the X series features eight major bosses which you can face in any order. After each boss fights, you gain the ability to use their weapon (of which one of the other bosses has a weakness and can be beaten further with it). After beating all eight stages, you go through a mini gauntlet of four stages that ultimately leads to the final boss.

Sure, Rockman X upped the ante by adding in hidden armor pieces that give you all-new abilities or upgraded stats, hidden sub tanks (which store extra life to be used later) and hearts (which upgrade your life), and lots of little features that are cool like levels changing their environment after beating certain bosses or the bosses themselves having their attack pattern radically altered after you use a specific weapon on them. Rest assured, all these features return in Rockman X2 and there's even a new gameplay feature that truly makes this game replayable.

Rockman X2 isn't a revolutionary sequel that adds numerous unbelievable features to the game, but it sure didn't need to and what it did add makes playing it all the more fun. Honestly, I couldn't imagine how you could top Rockman X, but somehow X2 did that for me and I'd have to rank it as one of my all-time favorite games. If you have any interest in video gaming, you HAVE to get this game. The same addicting gameplay from X is improved and still, a blast, the graphics are still gorgeous, and the storyline was much improved (in my opinion) over X's. Trust me, this game is worth every penny. And while you're picking this up, get Rockman X and X3. You'll be glad you did.

[nesrinslittleworld]

The Most Beautiful Thing In The World Is Love. - Chapter 2

Book: Dracula A Love Story

Pairing: Mehmed x Lale / Mehmed x MC

Characters: Şehzade Mehmed, Lale Hatun, Sultan Murad,..

Important note:

In episode 5 of Dracula a love story season 4, Sultan Murad tells the story of Osman who marries Sheikh Edebali's daugher.

The names of Osman's wives were mixed up, as they refered to the Sheikh's daughter as "Malhun Hatun", when her name was "Rabia Bala Hatun".

Malhun Hatun was indeed Osman's first wife and mother to the future sultan Orhan, and Rabia Bala Hatun wed Osman later on, becoming his second wife. Together they will have only one son, Alaeddin, who will become Grand Vizir.

While I do not like discrepancy, I have decided to keep Murad's quote as it was in the game, so as not confuse my fellow players.

Still I wanted to provide good informations about Historical figures.

Chapter 2:

The past few days had been most tiresome for the troops. At first, they rejoiced at the surprise that their arrival made on the Hungarians. At loss, they didn’t have the time to gather enough supplies to withstand a siege. But then, both sides started to stall, neither wishing to engage the fight. This could soon cause a problem, as more reinforcements might arrive from Europe; and then, the Ottomans would be the ones besieged, surrounded by all parts. 

These thoughts were occupying Mehmed’s spirit as he regained his tent, the second night on the field. While the servants were preparing everything for his ablutions, he continued his train of thoughts, eyeing them absentmindedly.  

It was a good thing that the Hungarians suggested a duel: their victory lifted the spirit of the Ottoman troops, and now the Mehter march could be heard throughout the entire valley. This military music would always remind their enemy that the mighty Ottoman army was close, breathing down their neck, and ready to claim their victory on those lands, as they did on many other lands before.  Yet something was bothering the young prince: Aslan. He had chosen him for his excellent swordman’s skills, but his father had seemed too happy about his victory.

Mehmed took out his caftan, then his shirt, letting his fingers run along the scar on his lower abdomen. ‘Yes, Aslan is a good fighter’ he thought ‘but even good fighters can let their guard down once in a while.’ He stared at the former slash wound with a thin smile, thoughts of Aslan gradually fading away to be replaced by more pleasant ones. He tried to imagine how the days passed in the palace, while they were away. Her slender figure strolling through the gardens in an attempt to pass the time; maybe the sketches she would draw of the beautiful sceneries. Would she sit on the bench by the pound, in the very gardens he designed, to read some treaties? Or would she write letters, only to throw them into the fireplace in her quarters, unsatisfied with the words she would have chosen? Was she praying for them? 

A shadow appeared on Mehmed’s features as he thought. She would be praying for her friends, that was for sure. And write to them as well. His breathing became harsher. But for him, would she pray for him? Would her heart be sized in angst as the days pass without hearing any news from him?

The young man splashed some cool water on his face, not only to wash the sweat and dirt of the day, but also to wash away these thoughts. Thoughts of Lale would make him travel from Cennet to Cehennem in the blink of an eye; she would torment him without even uttering a word, even now, so far away from him.  

He quickly finished his ablutions then hurried to dress when his father got announced by one of his personal guards, before welcoming him with a deep and respectful bow.

The Sultan seemed very pleased with the events of the day, and immediately started to engage with his son about them. Mehmed humoured him by replying from time to time, and by agreeing on Aslan’s victory being a sign of Destiny. But his thoughts remained elsewhere, on Edirne, on her.

“Do you recall how everyone laughed at your dream of conquering Constantinople?” his father asked with a thin smile. “As it would turn out, they were mistaken.” This question alone brought Mehmed’s attention back to his father who, noticing the change in his son’s features, continued with a knowing smile. “You’ve surely heard about our empire’s founder, Osman the First…”

Osman Gazi, son of Ertuğrul; founder of the Ottoman Beylik, a small principality in the region of Bithynia that would soon expand into a magnificent Empire to which he would give his name, as well as the Dynasty that his descendants would create.

Of course Mehmed had heard of him; Osman turned a small principality into a flourishing empire, their empire.

“Little was known about him before. But some old documents were recently discovered.” His father continued. “An old epic poem, dating from the time of Osman. In it were described two of his prophetic dreams.”

“What were the dreams?” Mehmed asked with renewed fervour. “Please tell me.”.

Sultan Murad then started his tale of Osman studying under the wisdom of Sheikh Edebali, and falling in love with the Sheikh’s daughter, Malhun Hatun. 

Osman wished to marry her, and so, asked Sheikh Edebali for his daughter’s hand. But the Sheikh, judging young Osman unworthy of his daughter, refused.

Osman kept on studying with Sheikh Edebali, and one night when he was sleeping at Sheikh Edebali’s house, he had a dream. 

Osman saw himself and his host reposing near each other. From the bosom of Edebali rose the full moon, and inclining towards the bosom of Osman it sank upon it, and was lost to sight. After that a goodly tree sprang forth, which grew in beauty and in strength, ever greater and greater. Still did the embracing verdure of its boughs and branches cast an ampler and an ampler shade, until they canopied the extreme horizon of the three parts of the world. Under the tree stood four mountains, which he knew to be Caucasus, Atlas, Taurus, and Haemus. These mountains were the four columns that seemed to support the dome of the foliage of the sacred tree with which the earth was now centered. From the roots of the tree gushed forth four rivers, the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Danube, and the Nile. Tall ships and barks innumerable were on the waters. The fields were heavy with harvest. The mountain sides were clothed with forests. Thence in exulting and fertilizing abundance sprang fountains and rivulets that gurgled through thickets of the cypress and the rose. In the valleys glittered stately cities, with domes and cupolas, with pyramids and obelisks, with minarets and towers. The Crescent shone on their summits: from their galleries sounded the Muezzin’s call to prayer. That sound was mingled with the sweet voices of a thousand nightingales, and with the prattling of countless parrots of every hue. Every kind of singing bird was there. The winged multitude warbled and flitted around beneath the fresh living roof of the interlacing branches of the all-overarching tree; and every leaf of that tree was in shape like unto a scimitar. Suddenly there arose a mighty wind, and turned the points of the sword-leaves towards the various cities of the world, but especially towards Constantinople. That city, placed at the junction of two seas and two continents, seemed like a diamond set between two sapphires and two emeralds, to form the most precious stone in a ring of universal empire. Osman thought that he was in the act of placing that visional ring on his finger, when he awoke.

“Osman told the Sheik everything about these dreams. Sheik Edebali was amazed and interpreted them as prophecies. The first part of the dream predicted that Osman would establish a vast empire, and his descendants would rule it. The second predicted that one of his descendants would conquer Constantinople. 

After this” concluded the Sultan, “Sheikh Edebali allowed his daughter to marry Osman.” Murad eyed his son with a serious expression on his face.

“If we win this war, Mehmed… You, my son, have every opportunity to fulfil the second prophecy.” This was beyond anything Mehmed had ever hoped to hear from his father’s mouth. Finally, he was seeing him for who he truly was.

“I would do anything for that!” Mehmed heard himself reply immediately, his pulse accelerating at the idea that his father could finally envision such a future for him.

“But remember, Osman was not alone. If it hadn’t been for his wise wife, things could have turned out differently. She was an exceptional girl of remarkable intelligence and a pure soul. She had a significant influence on him and helped him become who he was.”

As his father spoke, Mehmed reflected upon an exceptional girl, who too, helped him change and become who he truly intended to be. The Sultan’s praises for Malhun Hatun echoed in Mehmed’s mind as praises fitted for Lale. 

“I hope you’re lucky enough to find a woman like her… Intelligent and pure-hearted, proud and noble. Not just by blood, but in every way.” Mehmed held his breath as he heard these words. He barely dared to move a muscle. Had he fallen asleep and this was just a dream? Could it be true? He looked away to regain some composure, but could not hide the gleam in his eyes. This idea was risky, but he couldn’t keep quiet about it any longer.

“Someone like Lale Hatun.” He finally turned toward his father, his gaze filled with hidden hope and his heart racing in his chest with excitement. Oh he could imagine her already, in her beautiful red wedding bindalli. Finally he had taken a step toward the dream that had long tormented him: marrying Lale. 

But the expression on the Sultan’s face announced to Mehmed that these hopes were not shared by his father. Like a man waiting for his death sentence, he watched as his father nimbled his lower lip, annoyed.

“Mehmed, I didn’t expect such a thing to cross your mind. After what happened between the two of you in your youth, I thought you knew there could be no talk of your wedding.”

And just like this, his father had crushed his hopes once more. He felt like the earth had opened underneath his feet; like fire was burning him alive.

No matter how much his father would praise his strength, knowledge and battle skill; he still deemed him unworthy. Once more, he was a little boy pushed away by his father; unloved by him. Unrespected by anyone. 

As if things weren’t already terrible enough, his father deemed it wise to add fuel to the fire.

“Besides, I already have a groom in mind for Lale.”

The rest of the conversation seemed like a far away echo that would resonate endlessly in Mehmed’s mind. 

Lale, his Lale, promised to Aslan. Aslan, a slave, was deemed more worthy of Lale than the Sultan’s own son! Mehmed clenched onto his collar, trying to grasp some air. But as soon as his father left the tent, his anger could no longer be contained. 

Wounded, he trashed the coffee table, the chests and all the furniture within his reach. Tears of rage and pain now ran on his cheeks as he unleashed this maelstrom of emotions. The pain was so deep that he wished to tear his treacherous heart from his chest to stop the hurting. 

He hit his chest repeatedly, until, out of breath, he sat on his bed; clenching his head in his hands.

As he rose his face from his hands, his breathing still uneven, he finally noticed something amidst the chaos that was now his tent. A few metres away from him, out of a silken bundle laying on the thick carpet covering the ground, was something resembling a shirt. 

Frowning, the Şehzade slowly rose from his seat and knelt in front of it. Testing the material between his index and thumb, he uncovered the rest of the shirt with the other hand. 

With wide-opened eyes, Mehmed realised that this was no ordinary shirt. And the scent that it carried was all too dear for him not to understand whom the shirt was from.

He religiously unfolded it, and while tracing the embroidery with his fingers, read the inscriptions.

“ We have opened up a clear victory for you. so Allah may forgive you for any offence of yours you have committed previously or whatever you may do later on, complete His favour toward you and guide you along a Straight Road. And that Allah may aid you with a mighty victory.”

There were more of it, embroidered on the talismanic shirt. The 29 verses of the Surat Al Fath were written, in golden threads, on his shirt. But Mehmed would discover them later, as he would read them studiously before deciding to wear the shirt for the rest of the night, and the following day, for the battle.

But for now, all he could think of was Lale, patiently threading every single word into a shirt, to protect him. 

His heart, that seemed wounded to death just a moment ago, was now beating with such joy as if it could jump out of his chest. And through the moisture now settling in his eyes, Mehmed smiled. A sincere and hopeful smile. 

So he was still worthy, after all.

---------

notes: Cennet and Cehennem are the Turkish words for Heaven and Hell.

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11865382 (I copied the legend of Osman's dream from there).

https://quran.com/48?translations=131%2C85 ( Surat Al Fath 48:1 - 48:3)